Throughout Carroll Hall, posters are scattered with a stuffed pig and arrows pointing toward the Park Library. That pig is Rory, the library’s official mascot and a treasure of the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
“She’s a cute little companion to have while I’m studying and getting work done,” said Safa Tonuzi, a sophomore studying advertising and public relations — and one of Rory’s many fans.
Rory moves around, but students can usually find her sitting on the front desk, often wearing a themed outfit or accessory. Her wardrobe is a white and blue friendship bracelet, sometimes complemented with matching Carolina blue bows on her ears.
Stephanie Brown, the director of the Park Library, chose Rory as a mascot after seeing the Sloane Art Library’s own stuffed representative on Instagram: Joey the Lobster.
“My staff and I decided that it would be fun to have also a mascot,” Brown said. “And so we were just kind of looking around. I was looking around my office, and I thought 'Oh, look at this,' and we called her Rory.”
With the help of her student employees, Brown oversees Rory’s social media presence, as she frequently makes appearances on the Park Library’s Instagram (@uncparklib) and Twitter (@UNCParkLib).
One of the newer employees at Park Library, junior communications major Duncan Macmillan, expressed his appreciation for Rory’s contributions to the workplace environment.
“I just started working here last week, and I think it’s really nice to have a little mascot for the library," he said. "It’s a fun thing!”
The general consensus of everyone who knows Rory: they love her.
