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CHAPTER Two
DEVELOPMENT OF SCHOOL LIBRARIES
IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
lwok Nnah SHABl PhD
&
Racheal 0. OYEDAPO PhD
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife

Introduction
No nation can thrivc beyond its educational system and the educational
level of its citizens. At each stage in the educational process, the role of
the library cannot be undermined because the library is the bedrock of any
meaningful academic enterprise. This explains the saying during
institutional accreditation exercises, "show me your library and I will tell
you the kind of educational institution you are." In the first two tiers of
education, the library is known as the school library while the library in
tertiary educational institutions are academic libraries. Obviously, an
individual who had been introduced to a school library right from primary
school, continued with reading and library period in the secondary school
will have a seamless transition to using an academic library in the higher
institution.
On this note, this discourse will begin with the definitions of
education and the school library. Ike (20 17) describes education as, "a
process ofbringing desirable change into the behavior of human beings".
Education can also be defined as the process of imparting or acquiring
knowledge or habits through instruction." Through the decades,
-e&mtim+ r a s W e p r o v e n i o b ~~ e b G 5 r ~ ka@o meaningfulf
development in every society. The library on the other hand is the main
support and knowledgebasc of any meaningful educational attainment
startilip fi-om the prirna~yschool levcl. Kno~vlcdgeis the foundation of
education and thc library at all 1c'v~'Isis IIIC storehoi~scof kno\j,ledge.All
information resources pertaining to educatioiial advnncci?lenris found in
the library. Evidently, this led to the statement by thc Federal Government
of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education (2004) that, education
should be learner - centred, self-directed, active, resource-based, skills-
oriented and functional in terms of its relevance to the needs of the
individual and those of the society, in consonance with the realities of our
environment and the modern world.
This provides the justification for the changing and still evolving
nd of the school library gaining prominence in the Nigerian
ucational sector. The school library therefore, can be defined as a place
ated within the school environment where information in various
mats are identified, collected, processed, organized, stored, preserved,
r retrieval and dissemination of information pertinent to the needs of
students, teachers and other members of the school community
tters & Ottong, 20 12). The school library can therefore be seen as an
ispensable facility for the successful outcome of any educational
tern considering the fact that they are a repository of knowledge which
s as a catalyst in the achievement of quality education. Cognizant of
s fact, the National Policy on Education (2004) affirmed that libraries
one of the most important educational services and therefore
commended the establishment of school libraries in every primary and
condary school. It is against this backdrop that this chapter traces the
elopment of school libraries in Nigeria, the challenges faced by
ooI libraries in the Nigerian educational system and the prospects of
01 libraries which can move Nigeria forward in order to attain the
ainable development goal of quality education for all which is the
mational gold standard in educational best practices.
velopment of Schod libraries in Nigeria
elopment implies steady increase in quality or growth over a period
ime which leads to positive changes in all ramifications. Development
ds to positive changes which encourages the attainment of maximum
otential in human and material resources. Since the introduction of
hool libraries into Nigeria in 1946, the process of school library
evelopment has been a slow and uphill task with many schools not
aving adequately equipped functional libraries (Petters and Ottong.

yr-oject that provided the iilitial inzpetw to scl~ool

T/?e.firstri~njor-
braries in Nigeria was the federwl library service which started in
964. This was part of'a UNECSO pilot project on school libraries in

19
Africu that irzvolved tlze establishnzent ofnzodel school libr-nry services.
Varioiis professiorzal associatioris played sig~zificarzt 1-oles irz the
developnzerit ofschool libraries iit the coilittry. First was the WestAfiican
Library Associatiorz (WALA), 1.vhicl7 char~zpionedtlze srizootlz rurzrzirzg of'
school libraries, especially llzroirgh oi*gaiziziny corferei~ceson school
library development (Dike, 1991). These cor~ereizcespaved the way for
the rapid developmelzt ofsclzool libraries in Nigeria. Irnnzediately after
World War. II, there was a systenzatic and widespread developnzent of
school libraries took place in many African countries including Nigeria.
The developnzent was sp~~rred by the attainment of indeperzderzce iiz m
Asian a j ~ dAficarz nations. Educatiorzal expa~zsiona j ~ dre-orierztat
leadirzg to sclzool library developrtzent took place in couiltries silc
Jordaiz, Malaysia, Nigeriu and Tailzalziu.
According to Dike (I 99 I ) in Nigeria, school libraries developed
slowly irz tlze early years. Few goverrlrner~tschools and n few rnissioit
scltools Izad good libraries b ~ lother-
t schools Itnd ~zorze.Tl~is d~reto
poor fiizancial sittlntion of nzissioiz schools and the conznzercial
orierztation ofpr-ivately owrieclschools. Lack ofi-eadirzgculture or library
background also hindered sclzool library developmetzt irz Nigeria such
that by 1960, mobile library services were provided irz sclzools as part of
the Regiorzal Library Board Services in Eastern Nigeria (Ogunsheye,
1998). Within the context of this discourse, school libraly develop~nent
will be considered as the steady growth of school library personnel,
resources and services in the Nigerian secondary school system. As far
back as 2001, Elaturoti observed that in Nigeria, school libraries have
been developed in a haphazard manner. The National Policy o
Education (2004) made adequate provision for the establishment o
school libraries in primary and secondary schools in section 11,

inzpor-tant ed~icationalsel.viccs, propr.ietols of sclzools shall pi-ovi

firi~ctior~alschool lihr-trr-ies iit all their ecluccrtionol irzstitzrtioils i
uc.c.or.dor1c.c~\c.itll thc c.\./rrhlivl1ctJ .stc~ntlcrrrlsTllc~lv/lrill trlso l)ro\.itJ(>
t1.tri11i11g
o// ~ / ~ I - U Il.1I1 1~J I I I . \ ~I\..$~.JILII/I.\
/~/II+~II:\ / ( I / . [ / I I \ \L)I-I i(v.
In N ~ g ~ r ialthough
a. school library dc.\clopmcnt 1s still in the car1
stages, it has come a long way. As far back as 1995. Fayose quoting t
Federal Ministry of Education lamented that, "Despite the inestimabl
value of the school librarics in N~geria,they are still in the embryoni
20
stage." Where it is existent, the school libra~yis housed in an abandoned
classroom without adequate facilities. Books were just put together in a
ctors from the ministry come to the
he school library. The school library
he school library media centre which
ith multimedia equipment, computer
ctivity and other media which would
to engage meaningfully with a wide
habi and Oyewusi,2018).With the new
the impact of the school library media
culture and academic achievement of
Id be noticeable. From the foregoing, we
e of the challenges facing school library

evelopment in Nigeria
in Nigeria has become entangled with
have led to serious damage to school libraries,
educational sector and consequently, a decline in the quality of
school graduates. Oyewusi (20 16) enumerated several
in the development of school libraries in Nigeria which
ding; poor power supply; inability to operate
equipment by the teacher librarians and slow or inexistent internet
constraints to school library development in
ot limited to: inexistence of standard school
ogression and proper certification for teacher
traints; understaffing; no school library
~ k w ~ ~ ~ ~ s ; t - e t u s t a k t : m s o r y l o o
the major threats to school library development in Nigeria.

hool library facilities: Ideally, every primary

to hnvc n filnctiol-lal school library. Petters &
n ~SCIIOUI
IIIC ~ ' s t a b l ~ ~ l iof ~ ~ i t libraries is as
1c.111 o f the scliools. On tlic contrary, what
Is is far fro117 ideal despite the importance of
i~cational system. 111 a survey of twelve
State, Shabi & Oyewusi (2018) found that
21
only two schools had a functional school library managed by a certified
teacher librarian. This finding corroborated an earlier study reported by
Kolade (200 1) who observed that in Oyo, Ondo and Ogun State, school
libraries were inexistent in primary schools while few secondary schooIs
had school libraries housed in unused classrooms.

Budget Constraints
An attendant threat to viable school libraries include inadequate funding.
The bane of the Nigerian educational sector is poor funding which
inadvertently cuts across the three tiers of education. Even if the
budgetary allocation to the education sector is increased, priority may not
be given to library development. Government owned schools are the
worst hit. Surprisingly, other low and middle income countries in Africa
who are not as economically endowed as Nigeria are aligning with the
UNESCO guideline of appropriating 26% of the budget to the
educational sector unlike in Nigeria, where only 8.4% of the budget is
allocated to the educational sector. Garba (20 12) provided the statistics of
some African countries and the percentage of their budget allocated to the
development of the educational sector: Cote d'Ivoire 30%; Ghana 3 1%;
Uganda 27.0%. Poor funding is the major underlying cause of many
problems in the Nigerian Educational Sector. Sadly, there is apathy on the
part of the Nigerian government towards education and libraries in
particular therefore, adequate funding has not been provided to support
the development of school libraries.

Lack of Legislation
Even though it has been acknowledged that school libraries are crucial to
the teaching and learning process yet there is no enforced legislation
mandating the compulsory establishment in schools. Elaturoti (201 1)
noted that although in some Nigerian schools, there exists some
semblance of library service, there has been no enacted law enforcing the
provision of libraries in schools in accordance with any set standards.
Even the government ouncd secondary schools have no standard
libraries. The National Policy on Education is a policy statement which
has not been backed up with any legislation which probably explains the
nonchalant attitude of school proprietors, school principals and the
government on the establishment of standard school library facilities.
Ogwu (2010) observed that despite the existence of ample policy
statements from the govenlment, implementing agencies and other
international agencies advocating for the establishment of functional
school libraries, majority of schools still do not have functional school
libraries. Where the school library exists, it is in name because the
requisite structures are not put in place.

oor Work Motivation

adly, teachers are among the lowest paid professionals in Nigeria which
plains the low morale and subsequent poor motivation to give their best
students. On the other hand, teacher librarians or school library media
cialists as they are referred to in developed countries are hardly
gnized in Nigeria. Where they exist, school libraries are manned by
teacher who indicates interest. The teacher opens the library when
are free, otherwise, the library is kept under lock and key. Elaturoti
1) reported that in most secondary schools the English or literature
her is usually saddled with the additional responsibility of
aintaining the school library in addition to their teaching duties .There
no proper career structure for the teacher librarians to boost their
ale with promotions, continued professional development and
anced career prospects. In Nigeria, being a teacher librarian is a dead
job. With dampened morale and no recognition, how will teacher
rarians put in their best? Service quality will certainly be

erstaffing and/or lack of qualified personnel

rder to effectively carry out its role in promoting lifelong learning, the
01 library must be adequately staffed with a certified school librarian
pporting staff. In all parts of the world, school librariansare
g certification as
aidemployed b a G d p o ~ t h e i ~ t ~ n %and
01 librarians or school library media specialists. Elaturoti, (2001) &
(2003) listed the staff required in the 2 1" century school library to
e a school librarian. technical staff for thc operation of audio visual
ultimedia equipment, library assistant, typist, security and, cleaner.
ly, the University of lbadan has a department of School Library
dia Technology where certification in school librarianship can be
ined. Aqualified school librarian will adequately manage the school
23
library and teach information literacy and library use skills to students
while ensuring provision of value added school library services.

Prospects of the 21" Century School library

The 2 1" century school library has metamorphosed into the school library
media centre (SLMC). The function of a school library is to stimulate
students to acquire the habit of life-long learning, reading habits and new
literacies. Ogwu (20 10) listed certain desirable characteristics of a school
library media centre which included but are not limited to:
Having a broad range of library resources which cut across all
genres of books, non-print materials, audio-visual and other ICT
equipment such as projectors and so on.
Have multimedia equipment, computer workstations and internet
connectivity
Have a spacious building that is well secured
Include space and equipment for the production of learning aids
such as posters by library staffand students
Locating the SLMC in an area that is central and assessable to all
Proper organization for easy retrieval of books and other
resources
Having a full complement of certified, well-motivated staff

Let us now consider some of the prospective features that would attract
both staffand students to the school library media centre (SLMC).
Infrastructural development:
A structurally sound, aesthetically pleasing SLMC building with good
ventilation and lighting would naturally attract visitors, staffand students
alike. Ample spaces should be created for group study and other group
activities such as viewing halls, exhibition space and the like. Suitable,
durable furniture should be provided. Presently, only very few school
libraries have adequate infrastructure. A state-of- the-art building with
beautifi~linterior dkcol and thc~iicddisplays would bc an attraction to
both old and intending I~bral-4users. As part ofthe SLMC maker space
activlties, library patrons could create and display beautiful arts and craA
pieces as part of the interior dkcor. With just a little encouragement from
the libranan, the creative ingenuity ofthe students could be amazing.

24
 Library Collection:
Imagine a school library collection that is wide as well as flexible.
Having transitioned into a school library media centre (SLMC) there
should be a collection, rich in all types of media ranging from print books
to multimedia packages to make learning a whole new fun experience.
Supposing the school does not have a collection development policy, the
school librarian should be able to take initiative and formulate a
'
collection development policy in conjunction with other stakeholders.
Usually, the schools accept whatever old books come their way in the
form of gifts and donations. The new generation of school librarians
should however be more proactive and breach traditional protocol by
involving students in actively selecting reading materials based on their
preferences so that unused books do not gather dust on the shelves. There
i s no ceiling on the maximum size of the collection, however UNESCO
(2009) suggested that the smallest school should have a minimum of
2,500 relevant and updated resources to ensure a wide, balanced book
stock for all ages, reading proficiencies and backgrounds.

Development of new Strategies:

As a transformed, new improved school library, the SLMC should be
innovative and creative by doing old things in new ways. Apart from
offering the traditional library services, the onus lies on the SLMC to be in
the forefront of reading and literacy promotion. Formerly, school
libraries generally were comfortable with their passive role of supporting
education by the provision of required texts in the curriculum to teachers
and students. This was usually carried out through quietly sitting in a
comer of the library and waiting for students to come in and borrow or
read books and sometimes make reference queries. In the new era, the
gchool library media centre is a hub of activity. The SLMC is the place to
be during every free period and even during weekends for special
programmes such as story hour. book talks and creative writing classes
(Shabi 8r Udofin. 3009). For effcctivc implenientation of thc suggested
stratc~ic'~.tlic librarian ill cli;lrgc ~iccdsto be highly ~ i i o ~atcd,
i \ focttsccl
and passionate about the school library progsammcs in ordc~.ro ct-cute
publicity. Bc ready to blow your ow11 trutnpct and make reading visible
everywhere. Oyewilsi (201 6) highlighted a highly effective programrnc
on reading promotion which has been yielding spectacular results in
25
schools in Ibadan. The programme is called " D E A R an acronym for
drop everything and read. Training could also be organized as part of
activities carried out by the school Iibrary with the involvement of other
stakeholders and volunteers. This could be in such areas as computer
appreciation/computer literacy; web searching skills and practical skills
acquisition such as cooking, baking, dressmaking, basic electronics and
so on. Literacy classes could also be organized for slow readers, people
with special needs such as teens who dropped out of school and adult
learners. In this manner, the SLMC will fulfil its role as a centre for
reading and literacy promotion and lifelong learning. The whole
community will benefit and notjust the students ofthe school.

Conclusion
From our brief discourse, it is evident that the school library or school
library media centre as it is now called is not just a place to read books but
rather a multimedia resource centre which is growing in relevance in
contemporary society. In days gone by the common saying that slow and
steady wins the race was true but today, speed with accuracy wins the
race. Oyewusi (20 15) aptly stated that any nation which refuses to align
with global trends in education and technology will be left behind and
excluded from global developmental trends. We can give every Nigerian
child the necessary educational support by the provision of standard
school library facilities in all public and private schools so that no child is
left behind. This feat will be near to impossible without making adequate
provision for the teacher librarians or school library media specialists.
Prompt attention should be given to them in terms of training and
retraining, remuneration and career structure. When the teacher librarians
are accorded due recognition by improved career structure, they will be
highly motivated to perform effectively and to fulfil the vision and
mission of school libraries.

The MJayForward
I t is in~pc.rati\c.for Nigeria to mahc lmprn\c.mclit~ill thc ccii~catiunal
sector through the provision o f standard, \+>ellequipped school libraries
based on thc success rate attained by other nations. The following
suggestions are made to improve the falling standard in the Nigerian
educational sector and ultimately move the country forward. Funding has
been identified as a major challenge to the provision of well equipped,
functional school libraries. To move the Nigerian educational system
forward despite inadequate funding, all stakeholders in the education
sector should join in the advocacy for increased budget allocation even if
it is not up to the 26% that is recommended by UNESCO.
In furtherance of the global trend in education which is geared
s the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 4 which is to
inclusive and quality education for all and the promotion of life-
lication for librarians as information gatekeepers
2015) stated succinctly that based on theNational
(2004), libraries are one of the most important
nd should not be neglected if the educational sector
ahead and achieve SDG 4 . The strength of an
he teaching staff and the library services. School
yond the government for funding for school
bc sourced from Old Students and corporate
big names in the telecommunications industry
GLO etc.), non-governmental organizations such as what obtains
e tertiary education trust fund (TETFUND) and the education trust

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