Announcing Our 2024 SALW Competition Winners!

Announcing the winners of our 2024 South African Library Week Competition!

The Department of Library Services launched a competition to commemorate LIASA South African Library Week, celebrated between March 18 and 24, 2024. This year’s theme was “Libraries: Foster Social Cohesion.”

The Marketing Office was delighted by the 130 entries received from all user groups. Among them, 81% were from undergraduate students, 10% from postgraduate students, and the remaining entries were from professional and academic staff members, as well as alumni.

Students were presented with three questions to choose from:

1. Have you made new friends at the library?
2. Have you ever collaborated with others on projects or assignments at the library?
3. Do you participate in any group activities or events at the library?

The first question proved to be the most popular, with 58.5% of students opting for it. This suggests that the library serves as a significant venue for establishing new friendships in various ways!

The winning entries for the Bookmark vouchers are:

1. R500 voucher: Malaika Kamangu (undergraduate student):

Have you ever collaborated with others on projects or assignments at the library? “I am a 2nd year Computer Science Student and I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS something due every day. So one way that helps me complete my unending tasks is doing them together with my group of friends (same degree and also my study buddies). We are always fighting practicals and doing ClickUP tests at the discussion rooms (favourite being Discussion Room 1 on Level 3 Merensky). We also make sure we book the venues the day before as Merensky is the IT spot in terms of studying. The discussion rooms help my friends and I to collaborate in a closed environment where we can be productive and complete our tasks for the day. When I'm on my own, I go to Law Library as that is where you are forced to actually be productive due to everyone else being productive. The environment is usually very cool (AC is always turned on) and also very quiet which helps me to focus and turn in on my work. In return, I am able to do work so when I get back home, I get to use that time to rest!”

2. R300 voucher: Vuyiswa Fumba (undergraduate student):

Have you made new friends at the library? “I was at the Book nook at Merensky 2 library and saw some crocheting while reading. Naturally, I was stunned by her crafty multitasking ability and I started a conversation with her which led me to start crocheting too, a few months later. Now, reading and crocheting has become my favourite pastime and I don't know if I would have come across it, had I not struck up a conversation with that lady in the library."

3. R200 voucher: Christinah Mutswaletswale (undergradute student)

Do you participate in any group activities or events at the library? “The best event to ever exist in the UP library is the non-plagiarism event. I had such a great experience and I learnt a lot more than I knew. I always struggled with referencing and citations and lost a lot of marks for my assessment, but after attending the non-plagiarism workshop, I was able to Ace different referencing preferences for my different modules and different faculties.”

The 4 Artisan Coffee Bar & Restaurant vouchers winners are:

1. Lesedi Marapo
2. Dipuo Muabsa
3. Tanatswa Midzi
4. Ayanda Zulu

Consolation prize winners:

1. Katelyn Abrahams
2. Boipelo
3. Tshireletso Ramapuputla
4. Lara Gouws