Librarians’ Day video

Inspired by the book What a Librarian Looks Like by K. Cassidy, and to celebrate South African Librarians’ Day on 10 July, Elsabé Olivier of the Marketing Office at the Department of Library Services of the University of Pretoria, decided to challenge the stereotype of what librarians should look like, by showing what UP librarians do look like.

A group of volunteers came together a few weeks before Librarians’ Day to get their photographs taken. They brought with them things that they thought defined them. Naturally, there were more than a few books. There were also cell phones, hats, laptops, scanners, mugs of coffee, briefcases, posters, magazines, world globes, sports equipment, headphones, and everyone was colourfully dressed. Clearly there are no stereotypical librarians at the University of Pretoria. We are a mix of casual, semi casual, slightly formal, comfortable, fashion conscious (and not) folks!

Taking the photograhs was great fun and there was a lot of laughter.  Librarians are a happy bunch, and it was a great way to spend some time outside our normal day-to-day duties. The overall atmosphere was very cheerful.

On Librarians’ Day, our video was posted widely on social media (with 502 views currently) and there were many positive comments. Members of LIASA made a point of supporting us with comments like, “Wow stunning!” and “Dis regtig 'n oulike video…” and “Great idea and well done.” One comment was “Very inspiring!!!” Staff members seem very pleased with the outcome, with everyone saying how much they enjoyed the photography session and the resulting video.

The video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/X38o0m8ipa0