The Law Libraries of Nigeria: A Reflection

Abstract

Librarianship is comparatively one of the latest professions in Nigeria. The relative scarcity of libraries can therefore be fully appreciated. Librarians anywhere in the world have never earned recognition for the mere asking: recognition has to be fought for through all channels of communication, by inundating the State House with tons and tons of petitions and memoranda and occasionally by triggering off a small storm of public discussion on the subject. Nigerian librarians have fought successfully to gain recognition in the universities and other institutions of higher learning, by pressuring the Federal Government for a national library of repute. This struggle was brought to a glorious end by the magnanimous National Library Decree of 1970. In the sphere of public and school librarianship, obvious evidence exists proving state neglect and indifference. The main preoccupation of the Nigerian Library Association at the moment is to convince the Nigerian Federal and State Governments of the value and usefulness of library services so that library development may attract a substantial vote for their annual budget. Librarians thus still expend their energy on writing petitions and memoranda and on sending deputations to the authorities. This period of consolidation demands that all efforts should be harnessed and directed into building up a dynamic and formidable National Library Association so as to put librarianship generally on a proper footing. Professional associations for specialized libraries, other than an all-embracing Association, do not exist in Nigeria. An Association for Law Librarians, as desirable as it is, will have to wait till a more sophisticated library system is organized in Nigeria.