Libraries telling powerful stories

There is no school project or assignment that can be completed without research. As a first-year student at the uFS South Campus in 2022, I was baffled by how to go about finding scholarly information as most of the academic journals/articles require a subscription. I then came to discover that if I browse through the uFS library website, all articles are free to access - assuming maybe the institution purchased them for students.

The librarians did a tour to our respective residences for training on how to navigate through the library website, and of course, I did miss a lot of information until I joined the uFS Neville Alexander Library book club. The book club is designed to encourage the culture of reading; most of the time we read and reviewed fiction books. As book club members, we got a surprise puzzle competition to test how knowledgeable we are with the library resources.

I found out I didn’t know much and ended up learning a lot. the book club does not only promote leisure reading but academics as well. I can now check from my phone whether the book I seek is available and where to find it before I can even enter the library space, and also renew the items I borrowed.

I was sure I knew it all, I then got another surprise - the Academic Literacy best assignment awards, hosted and facilitated by the library. My competitive self was never going to miss that one, I then discovered that my referencing was not as top-notch as I would have wanted it to be. With the help of my English facilitator, I got a chance to fix my mistakes and now my mother’s room divider is looking all cute, flaunting my best assignment award. Now there comes the best part - please do not side-eye me, okay? the book launch and a reading park.

I remember the campus librarian fighting tooth and nail to get my first book landed, and making sure that the book launch was a success. I swear that was my wedding day. It’s the day I learned how to stand up in public and promote my book that shows the world its own shame. I got exposure, book sales and became an inspiration to other students. So, I’m a celeb now, but that’s not the point. Now that I was/is an author and an avid reader, my fellow book club members and I had to attend the LIASA Free State branch reading park launch event to celebrate the reading culture, and to encourage the reading culture - not forgetting the emphasis on reading and writing in one’s home language.

Imagine how I sleep at night knowing that I can pen the book in isiZulu and then rest while the university press edits and publishes it for me through the African Languages Press. okay back to the reading park, I also got a chance to stand up and tell learners how the book club changed my life from being an ardent reader who got inspired by the beauty of literature to being a published author. “A reading nation is a leading nation.”

Nompilo Khayelihle Gumede - UFS student, author and library book club member.