REPORT ON EXCURSION TO NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA (KWARA STATE BRANCH) ON 16TH MAY, 2013

SUBMITTED TO MR. OLARONGBE (COURSE LECTURER)

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

UNIVERISTY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA

21/5/2013 09/52HJ029 Ayotunde Badaru seun_ayotunde@yahoo.com

About the National Library of Nigeria The National Library of Nigeria was established by a statutory law in September, 1964 known as the National Library Act of 1964. Going back in history, the Nigerian division of the West African Library Association in 1962 gave birth to the Library Advisory Committee that brought up the idea to establish a national library. This idea was supported by the Ford Foundation and the foundation showed its support by providing the expertise and funds for the establishment of the library, this was done in collaboration with the federal government and Dr. Frank Rogers who was the Director of the National Library of Medicine, USA. One of the major players in the establishment of the National Library is Dr. Carl White from Columbia University, New York His major contributions include: setting up a basic collection for growing the library, laying down a schedule of duties for the foundational staff of the library, and getting the government to pass the first legislation enacted in September 1964. The partnership between the Ford Foundation and the Federal Government of Nigeria lasted for nine (9) years after which the National Library Board in 1996 amended the National Library Act. The national library moved to its current headquarters in Abuja according to Section 2(2) of the National Library Decree No. 29 of 1970. The library has about 26 branches across the Nigeria including the Kwara state branch. The Kwara state branch of the National Library of Nigeria is located beside The Herald Newspaper on Offa Road, Ilorin. This location is however temporary as the library is yet to finish up its branch office.

Excursion to National Library of Nigerian (Kwara state branch) All students converged at the Faculty of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Ilorin at 9am and we took off 9:30am due to a slight delay in logistics and transportation. We arrived at 10:15am and were given a very warm reception by Mr. Ajani, a senior staff at the library who led us to the ICT department of the library for a lecture to be given by the director of the branch in person of Mrs. Olani Kafayat. Mrs. Olani Kafayat introduced herself and gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves individually by our first name after which the lecture commenced. The director in an effort to start the lecture asked if anybody noticed anything on entrance into the library, she wanted to use to response to commence the lecture, this led to her admonishing us to scan any environment we find ourselves whether old or new because as librarians we should be able to provide information on any location based on what we have learn from the environmental scan. The director then moved to ask what a national library is and different views and opinion about the national library was given forming a foundation for the lecture and other issues. The director then listed the department of the national library and their functions which are seven (7) departments which include the National Bibliographic Control Department having three (3) main divisions and nine (9) sections operating under the supervision of a director, Research and Development Department having three (3) main divisions, Virtual Library Services Department also having three (3) main divisions, Public Services Department, Collection Development and Processing Department having three (3) divisions, Human Resources Department and the Finance and Accounts Department all operating under a supervisor. According to her, the functions of each department are as follows: -National Bibliographic Control Department: A core professional department constituted specifically for the purpose of carrying out and implementing the following major statutory functions: 1. To serve as the focal department for National Bibliography Control Services aimed at Universal Bibliographic Control (UBC). 2. To administer and mange International Standards numbers for monographs, serials, and musical works ISSN, ISBN and ISMN 3. To ensure regular production of the National Bibliography of Nigeria (NBN) on annual basis And so on.

-Research and Development Department: This department is in charge of the publications from the national library. The director mentioned Niger Biblios, NBN and the Nominal List of Librarians as some of the publications from this department. -Virtual Library Department: This department is in charge of all computer related tasks that concern the library which include website control, ICT services and electronic storage of information materials. -Collection and Processing Department: This department performs the technical function of the library which is similar to the technical services department of any library. The department performs cataloguing and classification, C.I.P, and processing of newly acquired information materials. On this topic, the director mentioned that all technical services are done at the Abuja headquarters of the National Library and then sent to the branches. -Public Services Department: The public services is charged with the responsibility to bring library services to the grass root and provide program me that will bring services that will serve the masses, this helps the national library to fulfill its responsibility of provide for the information needs of all. -Finance and Accounts Department: The director said this is department is in charge of all monetary transactions the library engages in, prepares the balance sheets, keeps track of all expenses and income, statutory signature to the librarys account.

A question by Abdulraheem Sodiq raised a vital topic for discussion, this was about how materials are acquired and processed in the branches of the national library. The director answered this question by informing us the national library has a Central Processing Unit that processes all books acquired by the national library before they are sent to all branches in the nation. This implies that all cataloguing and classification and other technical activities instead of the branch. The director mentioned the functions of the branch which are majorly to: -To receive applications for ISBN, ISSN and ISMN from authors and publishers in the state, after which they are sent to the headquarters in Abuja for approval and assigning of the number. -To provide only reference service to all individuals in the state as long as they are above the age of 18 years. The library doesnt lend out materials. -Partnering with the Kwara state public library to share resources and meet patron needs. -To receive legal deposits before they are sent to the headquarters.

Mr. Ajani who is a senior staff at the library took over from the director by mentioning the section that is currently present in the branch. They include the reference section, serials section, Nigerianna section that has materials about Nigeria, written by a Nigerian and published in Nigeria, E-Library section, document section and reading section. The visit was concluded with a tour to all sections of the library for us to see and touch the materials present in the librarys holdings. After this we were treated to a cup of orange juice each. The vote of thanks was given by the class representative (Badaru Ayotunde) and his assistant (John Oyegunle) and we left the library at 12:45pm.

Experiences Gained -Knowledge about the national library and its internal functions. -Policies guiding the operations of the national library. -Arrangement of catalogues according to author, title and subject.