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UFS staff member Nambitha Manqola scoops national Librarian award

18 October 2022 | Story Tsholo Maleho

UFS librarian Nambitha Manqola received top honours at the 2022 Library and Information Association of South Africa conference, scooping the association’s Emerging Librarian Award.

The University of the Free State Library and Information Services (UFS LIS) continues to deliver world-class services, with its staff members receiving national accolades.

Highlighting the library’s positive contributions, Nambitha Manqola, Chief Officer in the UFS LIS on the Bloemfontein Campus, recently scooped the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA) - Nevada LMS Emerging Librarian Award at the association’s national conference hosted in Gauteng from 4 to 7 October 2022.

A role model for the Library and Information Services community

This award is given to someone who demonstrates characteristics indicating that they are a role model for the library and information services community, someone whose contributions could have a long-term impact on the sector, and someone who will be an ambassador for LIASA, Nevada LMS, and librarianship in the coming years, including embracing the post-modern digital landscape.

This accolade recognises the achievements and accomplishments of emerging, inspiring, and exceptional public, academic, school, and special librarians who have earned their LIS qualification within the past five years.

Manqola is known throughout the UFS LIS and Free State library community as a well-rounded individual who is gifted and skilled in a variety of areas, particularly technology. She is based in the UFS LIS Digital Scholarship Centre and is responsible for research data management, and library systems.

Her contribution to the UFS library's growth and marketing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has left a lasting impression, making her an ambassador for how library professionals should embrace change and technology.

News Archive

UFS mourns the death of a great linguist and educationalist

2012-08-29

Read Prof. Melanie Walker's tribute to Dr. Neville Alexander.

He was one of the founders of the National Liberation Front. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit sabotage in 1964 and was sent to Robben Island for 10 years. During his incarceration, he taught history to fellow prisoners.

According to SA History Online, Alexander wrote of his time in prison: "The 'University of Robben Island' was one of the best universities in the country. It also showed me that you don't need professors.”

He also devoted most of his professional life to defend and preserve multilingualism in the post-apartheid South Africa and has become one of the major advocates of linguistic diversity.

During a recent visit to the UFS where he took part in a Critical Conversation at the Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice, Dr Alexander said that a multilingual state and culture could lead to more tolerance in South Africa.

In a tribute to Dr Alexander, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, UFS Vice-Chancellor and Rector, said Dr Alexander was an incorruptible, a revolutionary who remained true to his core values despite the materialistic excesses of former struggle heroes.

“He taught me many things, one of which was that Afrikaans is and can be a language of liberation and a vehicle for reconciliation. He took his methodology for language learning into the townships, and altered countless lives in the process. South Africa has lost a great scholar, a principled activist, a generous humanitarian and a formidable intellect; the last of the true revolutionaries.”

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