Re-Organizing the Nigerian Public Library System for Effective Services to the
Community
By
Kolawole Adebayo Abel
Department of Library and Information Science,
Federal Polytechnic, Offa, and
Abdulwahab Olanrewaju Issa
Department of Library and Information Science,
Federal Polytechnic, Offa, issaabdulwahab@yahoo.com
Abstract
This paper presents an exploration into the world of public library systems in Nigeria with the prime goal of seeking a pragmatic approach to delivering effective services to the community. In it, the fact that majority of the public libraries’ users fall in the category of non-literates, less privileged and usually local settlers was established. It observes that these peculiar features common to them calls for a distinct and slightly unconventional approach in this direction. Accordingly, the institution of Community
Information Service Centres in all the local government areas across the country was proposed as the panacea
Introduction
A cursory look at the historical antecedence of public library development in Nigeria, as in other African countries, was quick to reveal that unlike the impressive growth recorded in the 1960s and early 1970s, there has been a general decline in this trend. The economic downturn of the 1980s and the 1990s in these countries has had great adverse effects on

public libraries development in general. The growth decline seems to defeat such traditional roles of public libraries as the provision of educational, informational and recreational services to the community. Traditional supporters of public libraries, especially the donor agencies, both local and foreign, are also shifting support and interests in the face of ever-growing competitive demands from other spheres of human endeavours. Some of their new areas of interest and supports include environmental advocacy, gender and health supports.
To compound the situation further, not much effort seem to be coming from the various tiers of government in this regard; as necessary support ingredients from these governments, which could go a long way in ameliorating the situation are for most parts lacking.
Meanwhile, several works have been conducted by scholars with a view to assessing the situation resulting into many recommendations to this end. Such suggestions, as varied and diverse as they tend to be-ranging from governments roles to library’s own initiatives have had only very little impact on the deplorable state of our public libraries today. This is to the extent that these public libraries have come to have near-total absence of relevance for the various communities, especially the non-literate segments, which form the bulk of its colony of users. It is in view of these therefore that this paper sets to proffer a pragmatic approach towards attaining a more effective public library service to the community.
Brief Historical Antecedent to Public Library Development in Nigeria
Public libraries are said to have existed between 39 and 28 B.C in Ancient Rome. In
Nigeria, the pressing need for public libraries was realized only in the 1940s. Indeed, the first public library in Nigeria was established in Lagos as far back as 1932, being the result of a generous grant of $6,000 from the Carnegie Corporation. The library, founded at the time of Sir Alan Burns, was largely under European influence and control.
Moreover, its location within the premises of the Government House made it very much inaccessible to the majority of Nigerian people, which consequently minimized the impact of library development consciousness among the people. The Second World War,

however, created the much-desired forum for the actual growth and development of public libraries in Nigeria.
This was the time when there arose the great and urgent need for information/propaganda to be made freely available and easily accessible to the colonized. The need therefore arose for an agency that can effectively carry out this onerous task. It was this need, which brought into focus the issue of public library provision in Nigeria. The need to keep people informed about the war and to disseminate information as widely as possible lead to the setting up of “reading rooms” or “public libraries” or better still, “public reading rooms” as they were then variously referred to (Aleyideino, 1992). Thus, most of these public libraries were then new, to the extent that they were part and parcel of those institutions, which received great attention even, until after independence.
In other words, at the time when the country was just emerging from the colonial past, public libraries, undoubtedly, enjoy government support, especially in terms of good funding. Moreover, these libraries were also provided with international support with particular regard to funding, book and equipment donations and human resources
(Mambo, 1988). In fact Mchombu (1991) contends that “libraries received as much priority as other essential services like hospitals and schools”, as they were developed purposely to educate people on the importance of independence and how to maintain it, due to the growing nationalistic tendencies. Left with no better choice as at that time, both governments and former colonial powers could not but offer significant supports to these libraries.
It is also important to remark that government’s assistance was made possible then by the fact that, at the time of independence, the country had enough resources to establish and maintain its numerous emerging institutions, including libraries. The start of national libraries and their branches throughout the country was a clear pointer of this development trend. Above all, the over-riding factor was situated within the context of the postulate made by Mchombu (1991) that “at independence, there was hope that libraries would help to spread information and advance the pace of development”. It was also believed that libraries would help to achieve the best education, as it was the only hope for Africa. All these have however changed considerably overtime as, according to
Mambo (1998), “given the circumstances such as economic crises, deterioration of donor

support etc, since independence, the situation has changed greatly and in a negative direction”.
Public Library System in Perspective
Central to most of the definitions of public library is the fact that it is “a collection of books and other forms of records housed, organized and interpreted to meet broad and varying needs of the people for information, knowledge, recreation and aesthetic
(Maigari, 1992). The Encyclopaedia of Library and Information Science (1972) defines public library as “a public institution supported by taxation, one that opens its collection, facilities and services without distinction to all citizen”. In a more technical sense, Harrod
(1970) holds that it is “it is a library provided wholly or partly from public funds, and the use of which is not restricted to any class of persons in the community, but is freely available to all”.
He stresses further that the public library is a major agency of enlightenment of adults, provided wholly or partly from public funds, and the use of which is not restricted to any class of persons in the community, but is a major agency of enlightenment of adults, providing also for children, the recorded experience of others, which will help them to grow into adulthood”. Similarly, UNESCO (1967) refers to it as “one which serves the population of a community or region free of charge or for a nominal fee”, noting also that it may serve “the general public or special categories of the public such as children, members of the armed forces, hospital patients, employees etc”.
Thus, a public library is more or less the information storehouse and the custodian of knowledge for posterity in its community of operation. It is not just the clearing-house for all informational, educational and recreational needs for a nation; it is more importantly, a source of power. This power derives essentially from the backdrop of the fact that as store-houses of knowledge and repositories of human heritage, public libraries are primarily saddled with responsibilities bordering on conservation, preservation and of course, transmission of the people’s culture. As such, they are not only significant as instrument of social and political changes, but indeed, as the principal guardians of freedom of thought.

Consequently, the public library system, by its sheer nature and services provision, has come to be considered as the most easily available and the most independent of all public agencies. It is to this end that the public library was once described as “an open door, away of escape from narrow area of individual times into the wisdom and experience of all mankind” with its main objective being educational at first, “especially for young people and adults not in school” (Esterquest, 1929). It is therefore not out of tune to conceive of public library as “ the traditional and basic community information centre whose purpose for existence is to fulfill societal needs by accumulating information and storing knowledge and by disseminating that information and knowledge” (Ajibero,
1985).
It is therefore germane to this discourse that a firm understanding is placed on the fact that those theories that informed the establishment and operation of the public library system are not unconnected with the community-wide oriented nature of its philosophy.
This perhaps, explains why its public character is a direct consequence of its allpermeating effect on the entire community of its operation. Little wonder then that like any other public institution, libraries are both causes and consequences of their communities of existence and operation. This is fundamentally so because it is to these communities that they must always be responsive and responsible.
Public Library System and the Community
There is no over-stressing the simple fact that the public library system, by its sheer nature and perhaps, orientation, is the most universal in terms of near absolute reachability and accessibility by members of its community. Indeed, it is against the backdrop of its universal philosophy that making its services available and possible to all irrespective of age, sex, race or creed, remained its cardinal principle. In other words, regardless of their needs and circumstances, the community should enjoy whatever beneficial access to books and other related forms of recorded knowledge may bring to them. This became even more pertinent since public libraries are established to serve the public and that this public is not limited to any one class of person in the community concerned but are freely available to all.

Accordingly, they could be viewed, rightly as major agencies of education and enlightenment for adults while also providing for children, the recorded experience of others, which will assist them, grow into useful adults. It is therefore no coincidence that one of the most significant developments in public librarianship has been the library’s effort to reach out to the community. Thus, Umar (1980 ) underpins this essence in his observation that “ a good public library system attempts to serve the entire population with all its dimensions of needs”. Towards this end, it is necessary that the public library makes its availability and accessibility known to the entire community, thus bringing the need for it to undertake extension services. As Oklah (1987) puts it, “the value of library extension services came with the consideration of the ways the public library can perform its functions effectively, one of which is to reach out to all members of the community library services”.
Certainly, all these are in consonance with the American Library Association Standards for Public Libraries (1956), which expect public libraries:- to assist people to contribute to the growth of knowledge, make much use of leisure as well as promote personal and social well-being, develop their creative and spiritual capacities, be more capable in their daily occupation, discharge political and social obligation, become better members of home and community, keep pace with progress in all fields and educate themselves continuously.
Thus, one of the basic functions of public libraries is essentially to provide public enlightenment in areas directly attracting the attention of the community. This is also aimed at helping to eradicate the high illiteracy rate within any human society as a step towards the attainment of growth and development. Further still, the public library has the task of assisting the public in their reading skills for the development of its community since literacy is considered as the “bedrock of every development” while the public library is seen as the “focal point of people’s inquiry into physical and social phenomena of their environment” or better still, “the People’s University” (Aleyideino,
1992). On his own part, Benge (1970) remarks that “the public library, in under-

developed countries, should be regarded as an agency among others, that promotes mass education and eliminate illiteracy,” underscoring further the essence of extension services as the means by which it can become the cultural centre of the community
Challenges Before the Public Library System in Providing Effective Services to the
Community
In spite of its lofty goals and laudable aspirations as already enunciated above, public library system in Nigeria suffers most by ways of neglect, lack of recognition, inadequate funding and personnel-all of which have adversely impacted on its services provision.
Consequently, its growth and developmental process had been largely stunted, allowing for its unabated drift towards irrelevance as attested to by Bankole (2000) when she categorically declared that “states and public library services in Nigeria have not recorded much growth”. More than any other factor, the contradiction that is inherent in a bookoriented library services to communities of oral traditional members remain the greatest challenge faced by Nigerian public libraries in this direction.
To drive home this assertion, one may recall that the bulk of the public libraries “public” is represented in the mass of non-literate, down-trodden and rural majority for most part.
In fact, argument can also be made to the effect that a substantial part of the urban settlers also fall in this category as it is now common knowledge that other library systems like academic, school, special and research, serve only an insignificant number of the colony of users compared to that of the public library. Unlike these other libraries, the public library has the responsibility, and indeed, obligation to provide for wide range of users including the artisans, roadside mechanics, school dropouts, under-graduates and doctoral degree holders as well as professors in the community. But because the non-literate segment of this community of users is in the majority, they are faced with little or no alternatives in their information seeking efforts. Also of particular importance is that the public library system had remained the closest to them, as it is the grass-root librarianship. It is wrong assumption for us to always start on the premise that they do not need or appreciate library services when so little has been done to tailor our activities and operations towards meeting with the peculiarities of their circumstances as a people.

Often times, our public libraries go in pursuit of their book-oriented services as if though we are all literate in that medium of information transfer. Not only are the materials found to be obsolete in many instances; they contain information that have only slight relevance to our background and socio-cultural milieu. Aside from the fact that public libraries network in Nigeria is still a far cry from the expected, the few ones obtainable have little blends with their communities such that the people hardly find any relevance in them-in terms of their architectural designs, their contents (material holdings) and services provision (Issa, 1996). Yet, Adimorah (1985) remain unequivocal in his submission that the onus of getting information down to the grassroots lies with public libraries more than any other group: just as Fayose (1998) maintains that “public libraries are the natural resource for formal and informal students and for those seeking information and knowledge for self-improvement and other purposes”.
Chukwukadibia (2001) drives home the points by underscoring the issue of our historical documents found in different parts of Europe and America. He remarks that these documents could be of “tremendous importance especially in tracing the historical background to some of the events taking place in this country today. He concludes that “it is significant that we appreciate how important books and non-books materials are in nation-building and enlightenment of the intellect. Another significant dimension to the challenges before our public library service provision to the community is the emerging era of information technology, which has come to transform the entire sphere of human endeavours-not exclusive of the public libraries. The fact is that for as long as information remains the raison d’eter of librarianship, we cannot run away from those realities imposed on us by information technological advances.
Thus, in predicting the imminent growth in information, which in fact exploded in volume one hindered years later, Joseph Henri of the Smithsonian Institution voiced his opinion that the progress of mankind is based on the research study and investigation, which generate wisdom, knowledge or simply, information. He stated that for every item of interest, there is some records of knowledge pertinent to it, and unless this mass of information is “properly arranged and the means furnished by which its contents may be ascertained, literature as well as science will be over-whelmed by their own unwieldy

bulk”. At the threshold of the 21 st
century, these words become more self evident by the day (Favero and Taruhn, 2000).
Consequently, library activities are becoming more and more sophisticated as the sources of knowledge proliferate and the devices for the retrieval of specific item of knowledge become increasingly complex. In attendance to this development, the library got metamorphosed into a reception center for the assembly of communications of every description covering the whole spectrum of knowledge. In fact, all forms of media used in the process of recording messages are represented in the store of written and printed items such as manuscripts, books, pamphlets, newspapers, periodicals etc. being the most pervasive. But in addition to all these, one also encounters a whole range of non-book materials including microforms like films, slides, microfiche, ultrafiche, suprafiche, microcards and audio-video tapes, maps, photographs and now Compact Disks (CDs). In fact, the range is so wide that to use a term such as library, derived from “Liber” to describe a store of such miscellaneous contents may appear almost archaic (Sangal,
1998).
Nothing seems truer than the fact that information and communication technology has become one of the most potent forces, which are shaping the 21 st
century. Its revolutionary impact changes and improves the society tremendously such that in this present age, it is generally agreed that information is not just the communication of knowledge but also that knowledge is power. The very essence of information and communication technology is its power to help individuals and societies achieve greater access to knowledge and ideas for the benefit of humanity. It further allows a new, easy and better method of carrying out a number of library operations as old services have consequently been displaced by new proactive services (Taiwo, 2001). The questions therefore arise as to what level of adoption and adaptation had taken place in our public library system in view of this trend of events? How have their services delivery been positively enhanced by this development? Is it all about the problem of lack of funds and other rhetorics of various incapacitations of the old theses? If no, what alternatives are there for public libraries in Nigeria to rise above their present challenges towards effective services provision to the community?

The Way Forward
Obviously, there are no pointers to the fact that Nigerian public libraries have attained any significant level of adoption in respect of information technological tools as a means to facilitating their services provision to the community. Research findings; among which are those of Issa (1996), Mambo (1998), Fayose (1998), Favero and Taruhn (2000),
Bankole (2000) and Taiwo (2001) offer clear confirmation of this assertion. In order to facilitate an effective provision of services to its community therefore, the public library would have to change, not only its disposition to services delivery, but also its entire philosophy. This will be with a view to taking steps that would make their services more relevant and appropriate to needs of the community than ever before. It is only by so doing that their relevance to the community can be measured and even appreciated thereafter.
A good starting point in this effort is to maintain that whereas the present pattern of services provision may conform with the demands and aspirations of the educated, literate and elite groups of our public library clienteles (which can also be improved upon anyway), a more drastic measure needs to be taken in favour of the majority local, nonliterate and uneducated users. It is to this second group that the following recommendations are particularly focused. Adimorah (1985) was actually referring to this same group of users when he remarked that to succeed in getting down to the grassroots,
“Nigerian public libraries should be prepared to change their present service patterns
(….resource provisions), a separate unit within the public library system is advocated to carry out information services”. This is also in line with Fayose’s (1998) position that in an essentially oral society with about 60% of the populace being non-literate, the literature should not be so much tied up to printed medium as there is a wide variety of media through which information can be provided to the advantage of every member in the society.
All these much are the rationales for making a separate proposal for meeting the needs of the vast majority of users of our public libraries as in the following recommendations:- i.
That in liason with local government authorities, librarians should push for the establishment of what is to be known as Local Community Information
Service Centre nationwide, which is what the library is supposed to be at the

grassroots. For instance, community resource centres have long been in existence in various parts of South Africa, the reason for which Karelese
(1991) gave as follows:-
Resource centres arose as “alternative” to established information services like public libraries; alternative in the sense of providing resources both to support mass struggles and to counter the propagation of information by the dominant classes for the maintenance of exploitative relations. Thus, according to Louw
(1994) “the resources centre collect and make available publications and other information resources emanating from political, trade union and community organizations. ii.
In our case here, the Centre should be organized to serve as a melting point for a number of information related activities such as:

A regular television and occasional video viewing as well as radio and gramophone listening joint.

A place for the exhibition of relevant posters and other bills in aid of public enlightenment on various local activities.

A convergent point for the community multifarious socio-cultural and political activities like farmers’ talk for adults; story-telling hours for children and personal health( ante and pre natal) care talks for women.

An avenue for promoting mass literacy classes in conjunction with other relevant agencies. Specifically, the Centre can develop simple relevant book collections to augment such exercises.

A permanent generating plant attached only to the Centre for specific purposes of operating its electronic gadget needs to be installed. iii.
To make all these work, the services of a dynamic crop of professionals, full of information gathering and disseminating initiatives, are hereby considered as the panacea. Extra efforts, which may take the information professionals extra length, may after-all be demanded. This shall be with a view to ensuring that professional services are tailored along realistically established needs of the target communities. Schools for training information professionals would, henceforth, be saddled with a responsibility to ensure that professional

trainings are in near-perfect conformity with local circumstances and peculiarities.
Conclusion
Arising from the fore-going discourse are a number of issues central to achieving a reorganization of our public library system for effective service provision to the community. Apparently, these libraries are more or less deficient in the present forms of operational configuration to deliver services as may be required by the teeming colony of its users. At least, not with the conservative approach to service delivery that superimposes the writing and reading values upon the oral traditional nature of our communities, thereby making irrelevant, library services out of them. Due to the fact that we do not expect to change the community from the oral nature before we can make ourselves relevant to them as professionals, a proposal for setting up Local Information
Service Centres across the country in a form of grassroots information network is being advocated here as the alternative.
Although with all the trappings of the conventional public library system, the Centre being proposed here, represents a melting point for a number of information-related activities where a beehive of socio-cultural activities can be conveniently situated. By and large, the contributions expected from library and information-professionals towards achieving these have been significantly underscored, as the ultimate success of this proposal will be contingent upon their professional proficiency, commitment to service, and honesty of purpose as well as sound determination to achieve. It is the proactive approach to information services that is being advocated as the panacea to the problems of effective service delivery by our public libraries.

REFERENCES
Adeyideino, M. (1992) The Role of Public Libraries in Literacy Programme in
Kaduna: A Case Study of Kaduna State Public Library Extension Services BLS Project:
Zaria. Department of Library and Information Science. P. 14.
Mambo, H. L. (1988) Public Libraries in Africa: A Critical Assessment. African
Journal of Library, Archives and Information Science . 8(2) October Pp. 67-76.
Mchombu, K. (1991) Which Way African Librarianship? International Library
Review 23.Pp 183-200
Maigari, J.A (1992) Libraries as Instrument of Mass Mobilization. The Reporter.
Saturday, January P.16
Lancor, H. and Allen Kent (1972) Encyclopedia of Library and Information
Science. (Vols. 8 and 24 ) New York Dekker, Inc.
Harrod, L.M (1971).
The Librarians’ Glossary of Terms…
London: Andre
Deutsch.
UNESCO Statistic on Libraries. The American Library Association P.166.
Esterguest, T.R (1929) Public Libraries. Encyclopedia Americana. (Vol.17).P.
1031.
Ajibero, M.J. (1985) Library and the community. LISSA Journal. 1 (1) P.5
Umar, S.A. (1980) Libraries and National Development. The Library Scientist.
P.10
Oklah, J.L. (1987) Bauchi State Public Library Extension services: Problems and
Prospects. BLS Project Zaria: Development of Library Science P.21
The American Library Association (1956) ALA’s Standard for Public Libraries.
Library Focus, Journal of NLA (Kaduna State Chapter) 4 (1&2).
Benge, R.C. (1970) Libraries and Cultural Changes. London: Clive Bingley.
P.20
Bankole, B.O. (2000) State and Public Library Services in Nigeria Have Not
Recorded Much Growth. NLA Newsletter 12(2) July-December
Issa, A.O (1996) Information Dissemination to Rural Areas in Kwara State. MLS
Unpublished Thesis . Zaria: Department of Library and Information. P.67.