Mrs Kafayat Olani, Head of National Library of Nigeria, Kwara branch, says collaboration with the private sector will boost the growth of library services in the country.
Olani told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Ilorin, that the government alone could not provide all that the library needed to meet the vast needs of library users in the country.
”We need a lot of interventions because government alone cannot meet the vast needs of the library development that the country needs.
”We require the intervention of the private sector, community-based organisations, philanthropists to meet our growing need of providing library services to the society.
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”We should be supported just like we have seen around the world where the likes of Andrew Carnegie and Thomas Brat, spent their excessive wealth to create libraries and support the government for socio-economic development,” she said.
Olani said that the advent of the internet had reduced the traffic in the use of the library, adding, however, that the ”use of internet facilities have not grown to the extent of abandoning the physical library.
”Most libraries are redefining services that should be rendered in the library because it is assumed and believed that the advent of the internet has reduced the traffic in the library.
”That is not the case in our own part of the divide, we haven’t so much developed to that extent that our internet connectivity can give you all that you want.
”Books still remain the most potent vehicle for development, no matter what you do.
”Physical books are still the most friendly, you can pick it up anytime, irrespective of power supply or internet facilities, unlike the power electronic book.
”Services in the library are redefined to accommodate the demand of the user to ensure the library is well utilised,” Olani said.
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