Day 4, Monday 16 April 2012

John Tsebe, National Librarian and myself

The day started with a presentation by John Tsebe, the National Librarian of the NSLA ( National Library of South Africa).  His session was very inspiring and informative as he discussed the location of libraries on the national agenda. I was surprised to learn the broad scope of the NCLIS ( National Council of Libraries and Information Services)  as well as its functioning.  I was honoured to have a brief conversation with him whereby he invited me to meet with him when he visits Cape Town soon.  I was also very humbled in his presence as he appears to be a committed individual who, despite his senior position in the librarianship sphere, allocates time for his staff.  The NSLA plays a crucial role in facilitating access to information and the legislative framework within which it operates provides the organisation with a solid mandate with which to function as the key provider of information and as a legal deposit.

The President of LIASA ( Library Association of South Africa) was the next speaker who graced us with her presence.

Naomi Haasbroek, President of LIASA

Naomi and myself

She informed us about the organisation, its significance, mission for libraries in South Africa and outlined its objectives for the future.  I am determined to become more involved with LIASA and serve on one of its committees one day.  I am interested in its Research Unit and I feel that since research is one of my strengths, I would be able to contribute to this profession in this manner.  Naomi encouraged me to implement this task soon. If given the opportunity I would like to present at one of its conferences.

After tea, Renee Schoombee spent an hour and a half showing us what the actual core of librarianship really should be.  She is one of the most enthusiastic and proactive librarians I have ever had the pleasure to meet.  She reaches out to the community and advocates for readership by putting libraries on the map. Renee is a school librarian at Rustenberg Primary school and spends much of her free time building the library collection and raising funds for books.  What an inspiration to us all! 

My dynamic group: From left to right: Myself (UCT Law Lib), Viveka Pillai (NLSA), Sonto Mbena (UP Library) and Nicolene Mkhathali ( Rhodes University Library)

Lunch was followed by a crazy game called Pamoja.  I had such a lot of fun - this game taught me how to delegate responsibility, execute tasks given to me and be able to negotiate with others. After drawing and designing our imaginary country on paper, we were assigned the roles of country representative, gatekeeper and ambassador.  We decided that our country should represent love and compassion so we adopted the image of a heart to complement our culture.  Each country sends out its ambassador to other destinations to negotiate and trade for universities, community centers, public libraries or museums.  Success depends on negotiation and it is measured by the number of assets we acquire.  Each gatekeeper is allowed to force the a ambassador to perform a task before acquiring an asset.  I was asked to jump on one leg ten times!!!  

This game taught me the value of negotiation and that librarians should always try to give the best service to clients.