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31 December 2018 | Story Charlene Stanley | Photo Charlene Stanley
Kego Phuthi
Kegomodicwe Phuthi’s passion for books extends far beyond her work at the UFS Sasol Library.

She was born with a love for books and finds herself looking for something to read wherever she goes.

“That’s how I learn something new every day,” says Kegomodicwe Phuthi, whose passion for reading is reflected in the things she gets up to after leaving her office at the UFS Sasol library.  

She’s been a librarian for the past 22 years, working at various libraries in the Northern Cape, North West and Free State. Since 2015, she’s been the faculty librarian for the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at Kovsies.

“I’m passionate about my job,” she says. “It’s always wonderful to see someone coming in here, not knowing much about books or how to access information, and then learning something and leaving with hope.”

She believes that when a love for reading is inculcated from childhood, students will not struggle when they come to university. Her own daughter Rebaone, a student in Music and Computer Sciences at Kovsies, is living proof of this.

“I read to her even before she was born!” she laughs. “And now I can see the results, as she gets distinctions in almost all her subjects.”

Kegomodicwe has been named Free State Librarian of the Year by the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA). Factors considered include the fact that she started many libraries from scratch and also does volunteer work after hours at a Bloemfontein children’s home, reading to kids and teaching them a love for reading.

“It’s great to get this kind of acknowledgment,” she says. “The library is really the nucleus of the whole university. For me, it’s an honour to serve here. Most people look down on servants, but for me it’s the most powerful thing. All good leaders start as servants.”

News Archive

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
2005-10-20

 

 

At the launch of the diffractometer were from the left Prof Steve Basson (Chairperson:  Department of Chemistry at the UFS), Prof Jannie Swarts (Unit for Physical and Macro-molecular Chemistry at the UFS Department of Chemistry), Mr Pari Antalis (from the provider of the apparatus - Bruker SA), Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS), Prof André Roodt (head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry) and Prof Teuns Verschoor (Vice-Rector:  Academic Operations at the UFS).

UFS boasts with world class research apparatus
The most advanced single crystal X-ray diffractometer in Africa has been installed in the Department of Chemistry at the University of the Free State (UFS).

“The diffractometer provides an indispensable technique to investigate compounds for medicinal application for example in breast, prostate and related bone cancer identification and therapy, currently synthesized in the Department of Chemistry.  It also includes the area of homogeneous catalysis where new compounds for industrial application are synthesised and characterised and whereby SASOL and even the international petrochemical industry could benefit, especially in the current climate of increased oil prices,” said Prof Andrè Roodt, head of the X-ray diffraction unit at the UFS Department of Chemistry.

The installation of the Bruker Kappa APEX II single crystal diffractometer is part of an innovative programme of the UFS management to continue its competitive research and extend it further internationally.

“The diffractometer is the first milestone of the research funding programme for the Department of Chemistry and we are proud to be the first university in Africa to boast with such advanced apparatus.  We are not standing back for any other university in the world and have already received requests for research agreements from universities such as the University of Cape Town,” said Prof Herman van Schalkwyk, Dean:  Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the UFS.

The diffractometer is capable of accurately analysing molecules in crystalline form within a few hours and obtain the precise geometry – that on a sample only the size of a grain of sugar.   It simultaneously gives the exact distance between two atoms, accurate to less than fractions of a billionth of a millimetre.

“It allows us to investigate certain processes in Bloemfontein which has been impossible in the past. We now have a technique locally by which different steps in key chemical reactions can be evaluated much more reliable, even at temperatures as low as minus 170 degrees centigrade,” said Prof Roodt.

A few years ago these analyses would have taken days or even weeks. The Department of Chemistry now has the capability to investigate chemical compounds in Bloemfontein which previously had to be shipped to other, less sophisticate sites in the RSA or overseas (for example Sweden, Russia and Canada) at significant extra costs.

Media release
Issued by:Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell:  083 645 2454
E-mail:  loaderl.stg@mail.uovs.ac.za
19 October 2005   

 

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