Introduction
A
library is a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals,
ands sometimes films and recorded music for use or borrowing by the public or
the member of an institutions. It is also referred to as a collection of
sources of information and similar resources made accessible to a defined
community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to
material and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both.
The collections in library include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts,
films, maps, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-rays Dics, e-books audio books,
data bases, and other formats. Libraries range in size from a few shelves of
books to several million items.
The first libraries consisted of
archives of the earliest form of writing the clay tablets in cunci form scripts
discovered in the summer, some dating back to 2600 BC. Private or personal
libraries made up of written books appeared in classical Greece in the 5th
century BC. In the 6th Century, at the very close of the classical
period, the great libraries of the meditaterranean world remind those of
Constantinople and Alexandria.
A library is organizer for use and
maintained by a public, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual.
Public and institutional collections and services may be intended for use by
people who chose not-to- or can not afford to purchase an extensive collection
themselves, who need material no individual can reasonably be expected to have,
or who required professional assistance with their research. In addition to
providing materials, libraries who are experts at finding and organizing
information and at interpreting information needs. Libraries they also often
offer common areas to facilitate group study and collaboration. They often
provide public facilities for access to their electronic resources and the
internet.
Abstract
The
first libraries consisted of archives of the earliest form of writing on clay
tablets in cuneiform script. This was discovered in temple rooms in sumer,
dating back to 2600 BC. The archives consisted mainly in the Ancient Egypt
records were made on papyrus at Ugarit; besides correspondence and inventories,
texts of myths may have been standardized practice-texts for teaching new
scribes. There is also evidence of libraries at Nipper about 1900BC and those
at Nineveh about 700BC showing a library classification system. Over 30,000
clay tablets from the library of Ashurbanipal have been discovered at Nineveh,
providing modern scholars with an amazing wealth of mesopotamin library,
religious and administrative work. Among the findings were the Enuma Elish,
also known as the Epic of creation, which depicts a traditional Babylonian view
of creation, the Epic of Gilgamesh, a large selection of “Omen texts” including
Enuma Anu Enlil which” contained omens dealing with the moon, its visibility,
eclipses, and conjunction with planets and fixed stars, weather, namely
lightning, thunder, and clouds, and the planets and their visibility,
appearance, and stations”, and astronomic/astrological texts, as well as
standard lists used by scribes and scholars such word lists, bilingual
vocabularies, list of signs and synonyms, and lists of medical diagnoses.
All
these tablets were stored in a variety of containers such as wooden boxes,
woven baskets of reeds, or clay shelves.
The golden age
of libraries began in the 17th and 18th Centuries during
these period some of the more important libraries were founded in Europe. These
include Francis Trigge chained Library of ST. Wulfram’s Church, Grathan,
Lincolnshire in (1598), Boldlein library, Norwich city (1608) and British
library was established in (1753) etc. By 19th century, libraries
began to expand by reaching most underdeveloped countries, especially in
Africa, and Nigeria in particular.
History of Library in Nigeria
The
National Library of Nigeria came into effect in the mid-1960s, with the
enactment of the National Library Act of 1964. Prior to the passage of the
National Library act, a series of educational conferences conducted in Ibadan,
had laid the intellectual basis for the creation of a network of libraries
funded by the government to provide accessibility of educational materials to
Nigerians . A government advisory committee was later created due to the
necessity for the development of a local repository of knowledge. The committee
was charged with finding a way to aid the government in bringing to prominence
the intellectual foundations of its policies, creation of a national
bibliographic center and to provide an arena for the promotion of knowledge.
The committee was the first major formal body that called for a National
Library as part of its recommendations. The government accepted the demands of
the advisory committee and undertook the necessary steps to build a National
Library.
The
construction of the Library began in 1962 and the Library was finally opened in
November 1964. The headquarters was moved from Lagos to Abuja ca. 1995.
The
Library Act enacted by the House of Representatives of Nigeria guaranteed
financial assistance to the project, the act also provided provisions for the
training of staff and the creation of a board of directors made up of
professionals. In concord with the demands of the Nigerian republic and the
assembly, a group of 15 trained librarians were hired to provide a positive
role in developing and manning the library. A board was inaugurated in April
1966 by a new military government. The board was made up of government
officials instead of professionals as written on the original act. However, the
board tried to improve on the original objectives of the library. But the
Nigerian civil war hampered funding and formal government actions were not
taken until 1970. In 1970, a new legal precedent was set with the creation of
the National Library decree, the decree was partly enacted on the advice of the
board which wanted to expand the library to other state capitals in order to
create a network of repositories
Mission
The
library is aided financially by the federal government of Nigeria. Originally,
the Ford Foundation was involved with the project. [2] The foundation brought
in professionals, donated books and funded the library's expansion. The library
over the years has built on its original mission. Today, it is a vital organ
that acts as the intellectual memory of the nation. The library provides the
intellectual ammunition to aid government officers in policy implementation.
However, the general direction of policy instability due to the military incursion
to power sometimes created an imbalance between the intellectual memory of
prior polices and the intellectual foundation of a new government. The library
also stays afloat intellectually by receiving copies of books published in the
country by both the government and private authorities, it is today one of the
largest depositories of knowledge in the country. It also collects books on
contemporary or new ideas from international organizations. Its
responsibilities also include the issuance of the ISBN and ISSN to publishing
organizations, a process which is today cumbersome in the absence of
appropriate enabling technology at the regional offices.
Problems
The
library has failed to effectively expand to the 36 state capitals of the
federation as designated by the library decree of 1970. In concert with the
lack of facilities in the state capitals, a lack of adequate social amenities
for the library staff in some state capitals is another obstacle to the
library's development. There is also a lack of sufficient professional
librarians; the library failed to effectively protect itself by training
students in library science, today the few graduates of library science
gravitate towards jobs in the publishing business. The lack of adequate
amenities provided by the library also does not help in recruitment. There are
also insufficient storage devices for audio or visual collections.
Locations
Despite the
challenges and problems faced by the library in Nigeria has branches in the
following areas or states;
1.
National Library of Nigeria, Emir's Palace Road, Kano City, Kano
State.
2.
National Library of Nigeria, Oda Road (Opposite Ondo State Law
Commission), Akure, Ondo State.
3.
Ondo State Public Library, St Peters Bus Stop, Oyemekun Road,
Akure, Ondo State.
4.
National Library of Nigeria Festival Road P.M.B. 1, Area 2 (Near
Shopping Centre) Garki, Abuja.
5.
National Library of Nigeria, 227, Herbert Macaulay Way, Yaba,
Lagos State.
6.
Illupeju Public Library, Opposite LSDPC, Illupeju, Lagos State.
7.
National Library Enugu, NTA road, beside ESBS junction, Enugu.
8.
Enugu State Library, Market Road, Opposite Mgbemena Park, Enugu.
9.
National Library, No 1 Bida road, opposite CBN, Kaduna
10.
Kaduna State Library, No 3 Bida road, opposite NBTE, Kaduna
11.
Kwara State Library, No 16, Sulu Gambari way, opposite NIPOST
Office, Ilorin Kwara State.
12.
Akwa-ibom State Library: Plot 43 IBB way, Uyo akwa-ibom state
13.
Edo State Public Library, Benin City.
14.
Federal Library, Jos Beside Plateau State Polytechnic Holshe
15.
State Library, Jos Tafawa Balewa, Opp Plateau Riders Jos-North.
16.
National Library of Nigeria, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The first national librarian of Nigeria was Dr. Carl White was
appointed to come and head the national library in 1962. His appointment was to
lay a foundation for national library in Nigeria. The current national
librarian of Nigeria is prof. L.O. Aina, who succeded Mallam Habib Jato.
Use of the Library
The
primary function of the Library of Congress is to serve the Congress. In
addition, the Library provides service to government agencies, other libraries,
scholars, and the general public. The Library welcomes public use of its
general reference facilities and endeavors to offer the widest possible use of
its collections consistent with their preservation and with its obligation to
serve the Congress and other government agencies.
All
researchers preparing to come to the Library are strongly encouraged to pursue
preliminary exploration in appropriate public, academic, or special libraries,
so that they can make efficient use of the Library of Congress. Readers should
be prepared to present photo-identification showing a current address (e.g., a
currently valid driver's license or passport) in order to obtain a
Library-issued Reader Identification card, needed for admission to Library
reading rooms and when requesting materials from the collections stored in
closed stacks (LCR 1810-2). Anyone over high school age with appropriate
photo-identification may apply for a Reader Identification card; a written
introduction is not required.
The
use of the different types of library services shall be subject to the
following conditions:
General Reference Books:
General
reference books and materials (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, etc.)
shall be for room use only. General reference books may be issued for classroom
use upon the request of a faculty member, but these shall be returned within
the day.
Theses, Dissertations, and Periodicals:
Theses,
dissertations, and periodicals shall be for room use only. However, faculty and
officials of the University may borrow a periodical, other than the latest
issue for a period of not more than one (1) week.
Reserve
Books. Reserve books (required reading materials for courses offered during the
semester/ summer) shall be lent for room use only and recalled two hours after
issue. It may also be borrowed for overnight use upon request and be returned
not later than 9:00 A.M. the next working day.
Circulation Books:
Books
for home use are usually loaned for two weeks.
Special
Collections. Special collections (rare books, personal papers and Archives
Sections, AV materials, microforms, diskettes, art collections, and certain
types of Fine Arts books, etc.) shall be for room use only.
The
use of archival materials, such as: official records, personal papers,
manuscripts, diaries, legal papers, memorabilia, etc. shall be subject to any
restrictions that may have been imposed on particular records by the
originating office of the University of the Philippines System or the donor as
stipulated in the deed of donation.
Members
using special facilities, such as microforms, computers and the media
resources, shall be assessed prescribed fees.
The
student has exhausted all local library resources (school, public, and
university) and has identified specific materials available only at the Library
of Congress. (This will usually require consultation with a local librarian and
an Internet search of the Library's Online Catalog or a search of other
bibliographic resources).
The
student has a letter from his or her principal describing in detail the
student's project and the specific materials the student needs to use. The
student is interviewed by a reference librarian in the appropriate reading
room, who makes the final determination as to whether or not the student's
project requires use of the Library's collections. The Library provides much
material of potential use to high school students through its website, and an
examination of this material may prove sufficient for a student's needs.
Conclusion
Library
education in Nigeria was characterized by one problem or the other, since the
establishment of the first two library schools on different professional and
philosophical foundations. This gave rise to the proliferation of many library
science programs in various kinds of Institutions resulting in varying
professional Qualifications, differences in curriculum content with divergent
aims and objectives. The inability of the profession to monitor and harmonize
these differences at that time indicated the weakness of the foundation upon
which the education of librarians in Nigeria is based. It is hoped that with
the current intervention of bodies such as LRCN, NLA, NUC and ETF on the issue
of curriculum harmonization, provision of resources and facilities; and staff training
and development, positive changes will be witnessed and library schools in
Nigeria will be the pride of librarians in the country.
References
Enyia, Chris O. National library of Nigeria at 30: its history
and prospects for the
future (1992)
Everts, Bart. “Independent Reading? A History of the Nigerian
National Library”
Presentation at the Missouri Valley
History Conference, Omaha, NE,
March 6-8, 2014.
Casson, Lionel (11 August, 2002).
Libraries in the ancient world, Yale University Press
P.3 Retreved 7, March 2012.
“Library – Denifition and more from the
free Merriam Webster Dictionary.
Information for researchers using Library of Congress (www.loc.gov/Researchers).
