by Library News
When Anna-Trang Nguyen was working as a student employee at UTA Libraries, she was looking for something to pass the time between her regular duties. She drew a bear on one of the library’s whiteboards, which led to the formation of the Libearies Instagram page.
This simple drawing has spurred others to draw their own bears on the whiteboard located on the first-floor building columns of the Central Library, creating a following of fans.
“I wanted it not just to be strictly for employees, or just for me. I wanted it to be a fun thing for other students if they were having a bad day and be like, ‘here is a bear that you can look at,’” Anna-Trang said. “When I draw a bear, I am trying to send up some encouragement or at least drawing about how I feel.”
UTA Student and former library employee Anna-Trang Nguyen started the Libearies Instagram page after drawing a bear on the first-floor whiteboard at the Central Library while at work one day.
Anna-Trang stated that she chose bears because they were the easiest thing for her to draw. Throughout the year, she has noticed how the bears on the whiteboard match the time of the year.
“It is fun because every time there is a holiday coming up, or there is a certain season, the bears somehow encapsulate that,” she said. “So, when it was Halloween, all of them were in Halloween costumes. At Christmas, there were Christmas bears. In the fall season, there was a bear with a pumpkin spice latte.”
Students, faculty, staff, and visitors to the library are encouraged to draw their own bears, but there are a few rules that they have to follow.
UTA Student and former library employee Anna-Trang Nguyen draws a bear on the first-floor whiteboard at the UTA Central Library.
First, people need to be tasteful with the bear drawings they create on the whiteboards. Don’t be vulgar or obscene. The second rule is to space out each bear drawing so that photos can be easily taken for the Instagram page.
Anna-Trang is looking to graduate in the 2023 summer semester with a major in biology and a minor in neuroscience and chemistry. She hopes people will carry on this fun activity after she leaves the university.
People who want to see the previous bears on the first-floor whiteboard at the UTA Central Library can go to the Instagram page at www.instagram.com/thelibearies. The whiteboard on the building column next to Einstein Bros. Bagels.
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