Libraries in comatose

The sorry conditions and non-functionality of many libraries across states of the federation, coupled with the challenge of poor reading culture, have put education in the country at risk, Daily Trust on Sunday reports.

From  Magaji Isa Hunkuyi (Jalingo), Abubakar Akote (Minna), Titus Eleweke (Awka), Peter Moses (Abeokuta) & Bassey Willie (Yenagoa)

Many public libraries across the states are in terrible state of disrepair, findings by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed.  

Checks by our correspondents in at least one state each from five geopolitical zones of the country showed a lack of attention for public libraries by relevant authorities.  

Educationists told Daily Trust on Sunday that libraries all over the world play significant roles in the society as gateways to knowledge, history and culture.

According to them, the resources and services libraries offer create opportunities for learning, support literacy and education. They also provide everyone access to information and education, regardless of socioeconomic status or location.

They, however, expressed disgust that reading culture that will make life meaningful is at its lowest ebb as people have been carried away by other forces.

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A librarian who gave his name as Yusuf Aminu, said libraries record the least traffic of people these days because of poor patronage.

“I was born and brought up in Taraba State. I read Library Science but had to switch over to business administration when I discovered that my chances were getting narrow.  

“Government at all levels doesn’t care about libraries. On the other hand, students believe that they can get everything on Google using their phones. They copy and paste answers for their lecturers from the comfort of their rooms and that is why some of them cannot even write simple sentences without committing blunders,” he said.

Notwithstanding the important role libraries play, especially in supporting public education, checks by our correspondents showed that state-owned libraries are in sorry and non-functional conditions, mostly stocked with outdated books.

19 years after, no functional library in Taraba

In Taraba State, Daily Trust on Sunday reports that there has been no functional state library in the last 19 years.

The only state library, which is a small building located along Hammaruwa Road in Jalingo, was razed down by midnight fire in 2009 and it has not been renovated since then.  

The Commissioner for Education in the state, Johanes Jigem, told our correspondent that the library, which was razed down by fire, had not been rebuilt, adding that at the moment, the state does not have a functional library. 

He, however, said the state government had acquired a building at the TC Quarters in Jalingo, where it planned to set up an e-library. He said fund for the e-library project was captured in the 2023 budget.  

“We are not building a books’ library because that is outdated. The governor assured us that the e-library would be executed from this year’s budget,” he said.  

The only functional library in Jalingo is the National Library, which is located within the premises of a secondary school in Jalingo.  

The National Library has two sections; the books’ section, which serves as the main library, and the e-library, which is currently not functioning.  

The head of the National Library in Taraba State, Rhoda Aranda, was not around when our correspondent visited the library.

She, however, told our correspondent on the phone that the National Library in Jalingo was open to members of the public, including students. 

She revealed that more books were needed, and that individuals and corporate bodies were being contacted to assist the library with books.

It is sad – Educationists 

Meanwhile, educationists have decried the absence of libraries in Taraba State, saying it is discouraging reading habits among students.

A principal of one of the secondary schools in the state, Haruna Dauda, said the absence of libraries in the state was one of the factors causing poor performance among public secondary school students. 

He said both teachers and students needed libraries to update their knowledge, but lamented that Taraba did not have a government-owned library.  

A former director of nomadic education in the state, Musa Abubakar, expressed dismay over the failure of the Taraba State Government to revive library services in Jalingo, the state capital since it got burnt about 19 years ago.

He said states in the country that attached top priority to education paid greater attention to library services, thereby encouraging search of knowledge among students.

Abubakar called on the state government to revive library services in the state in order to encourage reading culture among students.

Staff battle reptiles, leaking roofs in Niger 

The complete dilapidation of the Abubakar Imam Library, the Niger State-owned library, Minna, the state capital, and its branches across the state, has raised concern among staff, residents and educationists in the state.

Daily Trust on Sunday found that while the library headquarters in Minna is on the verge of collapse, its branches in Kontagora, Suleja, Agaie and Rijau are also in shambles. Only those in Bida and the new and old correctional centres in Minna are functioning minimally.

Before its current state, members of staff of the Abubakar Imam Library Board, Minna said the facility was always a busy place, with hundreds of users, including teachers, lecturers, researchers and secondary school students coming from different places.

Named after the famous northern Hausa novelist, the author of “Magana Jari Ce,” Abubakar Imam, the poor condition of the library has further worsened the hopelessness of citizens in the public education and capacity of the government to provide quality education.

Instead of books, library staff mingled with reptiles, birds and ants that mostly get into the library through vandalised windows, especially during the rainy season.

A resident, Suleiman Hamidu said, “You can’t talk of quality education without a functional library where students can go freely to read. Public libraries should be made functional with up-to-date books for students and researchers to always access.

“As shameful as it is, you cannot bring somebody from another state to show your state library because if you take him inside you won’t even see current newspapers to read. You won’t see anything reasonable for the past 20 years in the Niger State library. The entire building is collapsing. It has been a long time since the government renovated that place.”

One of the users, Musa K. Adamu, said he had been visiting the library since the 1990s, saying the dilapidation of the facility in Minna has affected users as they no longer have access to books and research materials.

“You discover that world encyclopaedias have been wrapped in sacks now because there is no safe place to spread them for users. If you ask for any reasonable text book that a student doesn’t have money to buy or that is no longer in the market, the public library should be able to assure you that you will get it, but here, you can’t find any. The library has completely collapsed,” he said.

He called on the state government to revive the library so that those who have no money to stock their homes with books can find a place to fall back to.

An SS 2 student of Semait Schools, Minna, Hauwa Ibrahim Inuwa, also told our correspondent that she was always in the Abubakar Imam Library to read, but hardly found interesting books.

“The Niger State Library is not okay because there are not enough books, and the chairs have spoiled. I want the government to repair this library so that many people can come to read,” she said.

Our correspondent who visited the facility reports that books and the entire building hve become obsolete due to years of neglect by the government.

The deteriorating state of the library is said to have worsened since 2014 when the contract awarded by the immediate past administration of Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu to overhaul the facility was stopped in 2015 after the contractor had started removing the roofs.   

The electricity transformer that powered the facility has also been vandalised and all cables carted away, forcing the management of the facility to tap light from neighbouring houses, while the generator set used as an alternative was also stolen until management bought a new one recently. 

Daily Trust on Sunday also found that the three sections in the library – reference, circulation and serial sections – had been merged with the ground floor because the upstairs where the serial and reference sections were located are no longer habitable as roofs had been blown off.  

Books and reference materials were wrapped in sacks due to lack of space to keep them on shelves for users. The roots of important books and files destroyed by rain and wastes of birds also littered the upstairs of the library, with some staff seen operating under trees as offices were not habitable. Chairs and tables have also been destroyed by water that leaked during the rainy season.

“When it rains we will just be squeezing ourselves in a corner because everywhere is leaking. If it doesn’t rain, we hang outside,” one of the junior members of staff said.

Established many years ago during the military regime of Lieutenant Colonel Lawan Gwadabe (retd), the Niger State Library, Minna, is said not to have been renovated throughout this long period of its existence. And new books have not been procured for over a decade.

The acting executive director of the Niger State Library Board, Mallam Ibrahim Haruna, told our correspondent that the state of the Abubakar Imam Library was pathetic.

“This is the heart of the state because this is the only legal university for the less privileged. It supports their formal education, but looking at the present situation of the library, it is worrisome and demands for urgent attention from the government, non-governmental organisations and friends of library who really want things done for their children.

“We inherited this library as far back as 1976 when the state was created out of Sokoto. That was when the existence of the library board came to Niger State, with a serving point at Bida. Then, gradually, it was transferred to the state capital. The current structure was constructed in 1991 by a military administrator of the state, Colonel Lawan Gwadabe (retd). Since then, the structure had not undergone renovation until the immediate past administration of Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,” he said.

Mallam Haruna confirmed that the books in the library were obsolete. He, however, said they were still relevant for research, adding that some of them were inherited from the colonial leaders.

“Since I came to this Board as far back as 2012, there have never been acquisitions of books till today. We have written and put the same in our budget but the problem is lack of release of funds by the government,” he said.

Mallam Haruna also revealed that the library lacks a functional e-section to effectively serve its users. 

He said that despite the poor state of the facility, users, including secondary school students, still come to read.

Haruna called for immediate intervention from the government, stakeholders and non-governmental organisations to bring the Abubakar Imam Library back to life.

An educationist, Dr Hamza Kamar, the Director of Studies, Legend International Schools, Nkangbe, Minna, said that despite the fact that many families now have libraries in their homes, phasing out public libraries would portend high risk to educational development.

“A state library is still a repository of knowledge. It cannot be phased out. There is a need to re-evaluate the role of the public library in the present age,” said.

Broken seats, outdated books in Anambra

The situation of libraries in Anambra State is nothing to write home about. The only state-owned library, the Prof Kenneth Dike Library, Awka, is stocked with outdated books.

A visit to the library will convince one that people hardly make use of the facility because of outdated materials.

Some chairs in the library and offices are broken.

It was learnt that people have resorted to using the facility for functions, such as birthdays and launch of products, among others. 

Dr Henry Duru of the Department of Mass Communication, Nnamdi University, Awka, expressed concern over the non-functionality of the state library.

Duru said he loved going to libraries to read and do research but became discouraged when he saw that all the books in the libraries were outdated.

“You cannot find up-to-date books in the library. There are no modern books in the library. If you want to read anything about Nigeria history you cannot get any modern book,” he said.

He said that while online had provided an alternative, it is not enough, saying some materials cannot be gotten online.

He appealed to the government to give priority to stocking its library with new and modern books for people to read.

Also speaking, a business education lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Alonta Gabriel, said that generally, Nigeria has poor infrastructure in terms of libraries and this has a direct effect on the reading culture of the people.

He, however, said people were no longer relying on physical libraries for reading and doing research, noting that online libraries provide good resources for reading in today’s world.

An insider in the state library board who confided in our correspondent said he could not remember the last time they bought books for the library.

Poor readership in Ogun

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that the majority of libraries are owned by the tertiary institutions in Ogun, the state with the highest number of institutions in Nigeria.

Public libraries in the state include the Simeon Adebo Library, Kuto and the National Library, Ake, both in Abeokuta, the state capital. Named after the late lawyer and diplomat, Simeon Adebo, the library is also the headquarters of the Ogun state Library Board.

The state’s branch of the National Library of Nigeria’s permanent site is currently under construction within the precinct of the Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The state-owned library was recently renovated by the state government.

When visited, it was observed that the libraries are in good shape structurally and possess some of the relevant books. However, the facilities are lagging behind on the e- library, which is currently in vogue.

Besides, only a handful of writers and students still make use of libraries in the state, in view of the dying culture of reading and library usage, our correspondent gathered.

The former state chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dada Olanipekun, described the situation as pathetic.

He submitted that technology, mental laziness of the younger generation and the family had affected the development of libraries in the state.

“The state of the library in terms of edifice is fine. But in terms of readability, that is another problem. Do they read academic works or go for research materials?

“The state of the library in terms of readership is poor because majority of Nigerians don’t read. Most times, if you do a census on how many visitors or readers we have each day, you will be shocked. And if you don’t have readers, how do you expand libraries?  As far as I am concerned, the situation is pathetic except you have your own library,” Olanipekun, who is the publisher of the Prestige newspaper, said.