Vision of the Special IssueStructural adjustment of the Nigerian economy has been on–going for about a decade. Consequently, no discussion of her public services can ignore the need to rationalize such services. The theme for this special issue is therefore informed by the need to justify public support for Nigerian library services. This stance was adapted when Guy Marco, immediate past editor of Third World Libraries (now World Libraries) mooted the idea of the special issue in the summer of 1994. The project was envisioned as a tribute to the contributions of Nigerians to library literature in the last half century. It was originally designed to consist of bibliographic essays which would review the origins, evolution, and impact of different library types and of legislation, technology, and education on Nigerian librarianship.
The plan was to invite bibliographic essays from potential contributors and persuade authors of manuscripts already sent to the journal to rework them into that format. This approach had to be abandoned because of poor mail communications with Nigeria. The writing of bibliographic essays to serve as benchmarks in the history of Nigerian library development, however, remains a laudable project for Nigerian authors. Articles in this special issue were drawn from no fewer than forty manuscripts received between Summer 1994 and Fall 1996. In the selection, an effort was made to attain a spread in topics and authors within the framework of the theme.
Themes Addressed in the Articles
The contributions in this issue offer a snapshot of the Nigerian library scene. The diversity in topics and methods reflects the richness of Nigerian library literature. The topics include policy formulation and implementation, collection development and services, library history, personnel, education, and research.The institutional contexts range from school, public, and special to university library settings. Discursive essays, literature reviews, documentary analyses, and surveys were the methods of study and presentation used. The issues, accomplishments, and challenges addressed in these articles have defined Nigerian librarianship since its inception at the turn of this century, and have positioned it for the next.
Although the role of libraries in national development world–wide is not self–evident (Menou, 1993), Nigerian libraries have been dogged with challenges of recognition, funds, and public support. Aguolu and Aguolu, in their article, document the little–known but impressive fight put up for Nigerian libraries by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the first president of Nigeria. Their article serves as a fitting tribute from the library profession to this elder statesman who passed away last year. The impact of his political influence upon the enactment of library legislation, and upon the establishment of the National Library, for example, underscores the need for the profession to cultivate “friends in high places.”
With the ongoing Structural Adjustment Program (SAP), the need to justify library services to contemporary policy makers and society at large is more urgent than ever before. The World Bank Credit Facility to university libraries, the subject of an article by Ozowa and Sule, is a testimony to some recognition for the role of libraries in higher education. The facility infused a new lease on life into university libraries which had been starved of new additions to their stock under the SAP. However, imbalances in staff training and equipment procurement for libraries, compared with other academic libraries, signal the need for more work on the part of librarians in order to gain their rightful recognition, not only in words, but in the disbursement of funds and other resources
Some of the lapses in the implementation of the World Bank Credit Facility, as identified by Ozowa and Sule, are attributed to cumbersome bureaucracies, and the lack of continuity and consistency in policy formulation and implementation.
According to Ifidon (this issue), too many “meetings, conferences and seminars are held, but there is little evidence that decisions are acted upon, or recommendations implemented.” His article on collection development in university libraries, and another by Adimorah and Ugoji on rural community information services, offer models for bridging the gap between policy decisions and their implementation. Both articles offer strategies for prioritizing objectives, developing clientele profiles based on the diagnosis of needs, and designing responsive services. In his article on collection development in university libraries, Ifidon presents a conceptual model for sustaining the level of adequacy attained for university library collections with the World Bank Credit Facility.
In their paper, Adimorah and Ugoji describe an empirical model of a rural community information center based on systematic planning and implementation strategies. Their model represents the user–driven approach to service design. Such a grassroots approach has long been advocated as necessary for adapting public library services to rural African communities (Amadi, 1981). Moreover, the mobilization of community resources entailed in this service model is in line with contemporary development thought, which emphasizes indigenous capacity–building and integrated rural development.
The articles by Shaibu and Olorunsola are reviews of the literature. Shaibu assesses the impact of school libraries on educational performance. Although school libraries acquired de jure recognition in the 1981 National Policy on Education, they have remained among the least developed library types in Nigeria. Consequently, their impact upon student learning is questionable. As some of the works reviewed indicated, however, the multiplicity of factors which affect learning makes it difficult to isolate the impact of library use, per se, on educational achievement. Perhaps emphasis should be shifted to teaching information skills to students within the framework of integrated school library media programs (American Association of School Librarians, 1988). The Abadina Resource Center at Ibadan could model this new phase of school library development. Widespread adaptation, however, calls for upgrading school libraries and ensuring that they are managed by qualified personnel.
Nigerian news magazines have been “in the news” lately because of their run–ins with government agents over publishing material unsympathetic to the military junta. Olorunsola’s article assesses the use of news magazines in academic and public libraries to meet the educational, recreational, research, and informational needs of their clientele. Their significance as news sources may be attributed in part to the perception in certain circles that they are the most reliable sources of information on current events in the country, being favored over government or foreign sources. Consequently, the market for them continues to grow despite inflationary production costs and government censorship. The production of the Nigerian News Magazine Index, by an Indexing Research Group based at a library school, attests to the growing significance of this medium.
Job satisfaction among cataloguers is the topic of Alao’s contribution. In a national survey, he sought to ascertain the degree of job satisfaction among university library cataloguers. The stereotypical image of librarian is informed by the routine, repetitious, and non-social nature of cataloguing. Consequently, cataloguers have attracted more investigations of job satisfaction than other library practitioners. Alao’s findings support the multidimensional nature of job satisfaction, leading him to conclude that cataloguers are not satisfied with all aspects of their job to the same degree. While this finding may not be unique to cataloguers, outsourcing, automation, and centralized cataloguing are some avenues for reducing the stress on in–house cataloguers. Job counseling through mentoring relationships could also help cataloguers attain a fit between their needs and job demands.
The last two articles relate to library education. The article by Agada explores the use of cooperative learning strategies to socialize library school students to the demands of the profession. He contends that the new user–centered orientation in information services is at odds with empirical evidence that librarians, in the main, lack effective communication and social skills. Consequently, there have been calls for the inculcation of these skills in librarians. However, few library school courses and instructional strategies cater to these competencies — Nigerian schools not exempted (Ajibero, 1995). Effective social skills seem particularly relevant as they would enable librarians to better market themselves and their services, as well as to diagnose and monitor clients’ needs and service effectiveness. The cooperative learning strategies presented only require restructuring instructional methods. They entail no additional investments, such as technology. Moreover, they can be adapted to any course, and their impact easily assessed.
Impact assessment is the subject of Afolabi’s contribution, based on a bibliometric study of Master’s and Ph.D. theses produced in Nigerian library schools. He discerned a pattern of influence on the library research literature based on their relative numbers, subject content and academic levels. The study maps the terrain of thesis literature in Nigeria, indicating areas for further studies. The ultimate influence of these theses, as observed by Afolabi, however, lies in the degree to which they inform policy, planning, and decisionmaking in library practice. His article brings us full circle back to the issues raised in the opening articles: the need to strengthen the linkages between policy and implementation, theory and practice, and — ultimately — libraries and national development.
Prospecting for the New Century
One way to strengthen these links is to accelerate the integration of technology and the use of impact studies in planning and decision–making. The absence of a technology article in this issue is reflective of the status of the utilization of information technology in libraries. However, Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in the emerging global information infrastructure. It is unfortunate that despite prevailing notions of information economies in the West, the development of a national information infrastructure is not accorded priority in the IMF/World Bank SAP packages. The Nigerian library community needs therefore, in addition to lobbying the government, to establish one–on–one partnerships with international and foreign professional associations and institutions to secure technology, electronic connectivity, and staff training.
First, however, Nigerian librarians must have access to information on international funding agencies, and exchange and collaborative programs. Library schools and university libraries should seek to meet this need as well as to offer courses or workshops on competitive grant writing and conducting evaluative/impact studies of library programs. Such skills would complement the prolific nature of Nigerian librarians, and place them in good stead to take the profession to new heights in the next century. Hopefully, the recent recognition of the Nigerian Library Association as a statutory professional body will usher in a new era marked by a more visible and vibrant library profession in Nigeria and beyond.
Ajibero, M.I. “Library Education In Nigeria: The Way Forward,” In Wise, M., and others, eds. Library Education In Nigeria: The Way Forward. Proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Nigerian Association of Library and Information Science Educators (NALISE), 29 June — 1 July, 1994 (Kano: Bayero University, 1995), 13–14.
Amadi, A.O. African Libraries: Western Tradition and Colonial Brainwashing. (London: Scarecrow Press, 1981).
American Association of School Librarians. Information Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs. (Chicago: American Library Association; Washington, D.C.: Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 1988).
Menou, M.J. Measuring the Impact of Information On Development (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1993), ix-x.
John Agada is Assistant Professor, School of Library and Information Science, University of Wisconsin — Milwaukee.
©1997 John Agada