The Library Cat and the Bookworm

I was privileged to attend a lecture, titled Recovering the Indigenous African Knowledge Systems for Youth Development, given by Professor Mathole Motshekga at the National Library of South Africa (NLSA), Pretoria campus on 25 November 2020. The audience were filled by various information workers such as teachers, librarians and the media. As an information worker myself, studying Library and Information Science and working in a library, I was glad and excited to be present. When I first read the title, I expected a lecture explaining how all Africans, no matter what race or ethnicity, can work together to recover these indigenous knowledge systems which can be used to help the youth in upliftment, better living and more harmony. Instead, there was a quasi-religious cultural exposition on how (black) Africans forgot their roots and how everything that does not sound like it is from a (black) African language should be changed. Now I have no problem with ‘returning to our roots’ and w...