Nazeem Hardy (LIASA President), Anelisa Mente-Mpako, Neesha Ramsumar (UKS CEO)

Behind every great researcher and student is usually someone who has assisted them to get the information they need for their academic projects. This could be a lecturer, supervisor or a librarian and sometimes even all three, working together. The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is proud of the latest recognition given to Anelisa Mente-Mpako, the Manager of Digital Scholarship at Library Services.

Mente-Mpako received the National Library and Information Association of South Africa’s Universal Knowledge Software (LIASA-UKS) Librarian of the Year Award 2023.

It’s a full circle moment for her as she admits that growing up she never had her sights set on librarianship as it wasn’t a career she was exposed to.

“I grew up in a township in Makhanda and we didn’t have a school library or any similar resource so the only reading we did was in our English or IsiXhosa classes. I was really not aware of the profession of librarian, but later in my high school years, was when I was introduced to librarians,” said Mente-Mpako.

UWC Library Services has kept abreast with the ever-changing role it has to play in the lives of students, researchers and staff.

Mente-Mpako said: “Librarianship is evolving every day and the librarian’s role is no longer limited to the physical library and the issuing of books. There are so many technologies that have changed the way we work and the role that we play.

“We are packaging knowledge resources in the background of this tech and helping researchers to access the teaching and learning resources.” .

Anelisa Mente-Mpako, Neesha Ramsumar (UKS CEO)

Affectionately known as “The Endnote Lady”, Anelisa has earned a reputation throughout campus for her postgraduate training sessions, research support services and Open Science initiatives in her role as the Librarian: Research Support and subsequently as Manager: Digital
Scholarship.

Her dedication is driven by a desire to make a valuable contribution towards research capacity development and is committed to providing only the best possible services to postgraduates and researchers. This is what Mente-Mpako believes sets her apart.