The Nature of a National Library

Ayotunde Badaru

April, 2013

INTRODUCTION I am sure from the word national you will have an educated guess of what this type of library is and probably what it entails. This idea you posses will definitely help you to understand other important aspects of this topic. Any national library is a reflection of a nations level of development in creativity, education, literacy among others, it is therefore important that individuals have knowledge of this important aspect of the nations development. Therefore, knowledge about the nature of a national library is vital to every individual in a country. This paper will focus on the national library using the formation, funding, functions or services as parameters to determine its nature and its entire makeup.

A National Library A national library is a library established by the government of a country and is backed up by law; this law guides its operations, functions and services, being a library established by the government, it seen as the apex library in any country; it is the library with the highest authority in any country. A national library therefore being the apex library in a country is expected to oversee all other libraries in that country either public, academic or special. In addition to this, a national library in terms of structure is usually known for having a large physical structure mainly because of its possession of information materials published in the entire country and beyond, this is evident in most national libraries around the world. Speaking of possessing information materials, a national library acquires its materials mainly through legal deposit; this will be explained later in this paper. In terms of funds, a national library is funded by the government through its budget allocations, international grants, public funds and taxes levied. Funds allotted to the national library are usually used for purchase of information materials, event planning and other logistics. Acquisition of information materials from every part of the country automatically translates to the fact that a national library can serve anybody in the country regardless of status or field of study. From the president who is the first citizen to the prisoner, the national library is obligated by law to embrace individuals from all works of life; this brings us to an important question.

Can a National Library be categorized as a Public Library? A national library can be seen as a public library in the sense that a national library is meant to serve individuals from every aspect of the country and even beyond, this is the same as the public library. A national library although larger, powerful and highly recognized is a public library literarily, because it isnt restricted to certain users. The variety of information materials in a national library also makes it a public library; information materials acquired cut across every aspect of human endeavor in a country, this therefore makes the national library public.

In terms of hierarchy and recognition, a national library in a country is obviously higher than a public library in a state or community, making the national library more glorified than the conventional public library. A public library is also one that is available at the grassroots and sometimes remote areas of a country, this gives it better closeness to the people within its catchment area unlike a national library which is usually located at the capital city of a country making it open in most cases to only elites.

Formation A national library is formed with a legal backing which can be an act (the National Library of Nigeria was formed with the enactment of the National Library Act of 1964). Although in some cases, the establishment of a national library is a product of a persons idea and observation which will then be taken up by the go vernment and a law is setup to suit the establishment (the National Library of Greece was formed from the idea of one man which was later taken up by the government). In any case, a national library is formed and empowered to perform its functions with the backing of the law and violation of any aspect of the law will definitely attract penalties.

Functions -Satisfying information needs: This is perhaps the first and major function of a national library. A national library is primarily established to satisfy the needs of individuals in a country irrespective of status. A national library therefore, will put in place operational plan to ensure that these needs are satisfied and that every individual gets the information they need. A national library also goes beyond its country with this function by spreading its tentacles to other national libraries and corporate bodies in need of information. -Legal deposit: A national library is tasked with the function of accepting legal deposits from authors, publishers, and libraries alike. Legal deposit is a function of a national library that obligates anyone that writes a book in a country, or about a country or about persons in a country to deposit a number of copies depending on

the country. This function is the major reason for the librarys extensive collection of books in any country. -Issuance of ISBN/ISSN: A national library also performs the function of issuing International Standard Book Number for books published and International Standard Serials Number for serials published. These numbers are uniquely different one from another and are mark of quality and approval for book or serial published. -Library or last resort: A national library just like a Central Bank is also performs the function of last resort. This function a national library performs is directed to any other type of library in the country. All libraries in cases of emergency or need refer back to the national library for assistance in terms of intellectual property, research, corporate loans and other resources beyond their reach. -Resource sharing and corporate loans: A national library also performs the function of resource sharing i.e. the national library through its vast resource can come to the aid for other libraries to share resources. Corporate loans are also a function that is similar to resource sharing, corporate loans is usually done for a stipulated time. -Compilation of National Bibliography: A national bibliography is a systematic listing and description of books (in terms of author, title, year or production and so on) that are present in a librarys holdings. A national library owns virtually all the publications in a country, thereby making it possible for it to perform the function of compiling the national bibliography of that country. In most cases, the library catalogue of most national libraries can serve as national bibliography because it is very similar and performs almost the same function. -Research Support: A national library also provides research support to researchers, experts, professionals and corporate bodies through its possession of vast and extensive books. The national library also houses historical information materials such as speeches of important country men, national calendar, national conference proceedings and so on which are useful to research papers around the world.

Conclusion A national library is a symbol of a countrys intellectual capacity and a repository of knowledge for any individual irrespective of nationality or status. A national library therefore, through its resources promotes cultural, educational and recreational activities in a country. It is therefore important that a national library is equipped to perform its functions effectively and proper awareness is provided to ensure that individuals are not ignorant of the immense benefits of a national library for research and intellectual support. Resource sharing, consortium and inter library loan is also a major channels that national libraries can connect for better service delivery and eventually spread ideas of development and innovation from developed countries to the developing ones.