As many of you may know, we have a furry mascot for our Lean Library browser extension – isn’t he cute? The Lean Library Llama joins us at events and conferences, listening in as we talk to academic librarians from all over the world about Lean Library, the easy-to-use browser extension which simplifies online access to library content. We’ve named our Lean Library Llama Larry, but we’ve heard librarians and students name their llama all different names: from Allama Morisette to Louisa.
Do you want to find out where Larry the Llama has been this year and what he’s been up to? Read on to discover the travels of our four-legged friend…
March – ER&L Conference, Austin, Texas, United States
Larry was lucky enough to travel to Austin, Texas for Electronic Resources and Libraries Conference (ER&L) 2023 back in March and had a great time on the stand chatting to librarians about their library.
We were delighted to have three sessions at ER&L Conference 2023, ranging from future-proofing access to patron reference management.
Find out more about our sessions below:
- Future-proofing access: Going where your patrons are.
- Unveiling a new user-centered approach on the delivery of library services: A case study from Bangor University Library.
- Right place, right reference: The role of the library in supporting patron reference management.
April – Tech from Sage Insight Conference, Birmingham, United Kingdom
In April, Larry and his friends joined us at our inaugural Tech from Sage Insight Conference in Birmingham at The REP Theatre. It was a jam-packed two days for academic librarians with workshops and presentations on Higher Education topics, ranging from the risks and opportunities of AI to rethinking the library of the future.
We ran a giveaway during the two-day conference for six librarians to win their own llama to take home. All they had to do was tweet about the conference using #TechfromSage. The lucky winners were Lowri, Jackie, Haylee, Hazel, Fiona and Chantal. We loved seeing the photos of the llamas from the winners:
May – REBIUN Asamblea, Alicante, Spain
In May, Larry the Llama joined the Technology from Sage team at REBIUN Asamblea Conference in Alicante, Spain – a wonderful city for an academic conference and we loved meeting so many librarians from Spanish institutions.
Congratulations to Juana from Universisidad de Alicante who won a llama at the stand – we’re sure that this llama has gone to a fantastic home.
September – Kennesaw State University Library, Kennesaw, Georgia, United States
In September, Larry and his friends flew to Kennesaw in the United States (they’re becoming very well-travelled llamas) to promote the Lean Library browser extension at a usage driving event for students, run by Kennesaw State University Library.
We absolutely loved seeing the fantastic photos of the llamas enjoying a cold beverage and hanging out in the Lean Library branded paper bags. We felt it was a fantastic way for Kennesaw State University Library to celebrate that students now had access to Lean Library for their research.
Discover more about how Kennesaw State University Library have used Lean Library to increase their patron usage of digital collections in our case study.
November – University of Derby Library, Derby, United Kingdom
In November, Larry the Llama visited a couple of institutions within the United Kingdom. First stop, was University of Derby Library where three llamas were part of a competition for students to install the Lean Library browser extension and a gain a new study buddy at the same time. We absolutely loved that the three llamas who had found new homes were named Allama Morisette, Banana- Llama and Bubble.
November – University of Lancaster Library, Lancaster, United Kingdom
Larry and his friends travelled further up north to Lancaster, United Kingdom to visit University of Lancaster Library and meet some students. The llamas became part of the Lean Library Llama Digital and Usability Outreach Team and we’ve heard reports that they’ve been patrolling University of Lancaster Library to tell students about how Lean Library makes their research process even easier.
We loved the Lean Library tags on the llamas that the University of Lancaster librarians created!
We almost forgot…
Larry the Llama visited Barbie Land in the summer to be Barbie's loyal travel companion as she went to the Real World. This may have happened in Larry’s imagination, but we’ll leave that up to you to decide!
We hope 2024 brings even more travels for Larry the Lean Library Llama! Stay tuned for more adventures around conferences and institutions around the world.
Read our blog post to find out more about what Lean Library has been up to in 2023!
