The Nigerian Library Association (NLA) has decried the appointment of unqualified practitioners as librarians in various organisations across the country.
This is even as it has called on the Federal Government intervention to enforce existing regulations and guidelines that mandate the appointment of qualified Librarians to leadership positions in libraries.
President and Chairman of Council, Dominic Omokaro stayed this Thursday in Abuja at a press conference to announce the 62nd National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the association.
Omokaro said the National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the association which is held in Port Harcourt from 7th to 12th July, 2024 with the theme, ‘Promoting Diversity and Inclusiveness through Innovative Library and Information Service Delivery in Nigeria’ will also draw national attention to the myriad of pressing issues plaguing the sector for too long.
The President underscored the need for employers in the library sector to prioritize the recruitment and promotion of qualified Librarians to ensure the delivery of quality library services to the public.
He also tasked the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigerian (LRCN) to immediately commence enforcement of its enabling Act by sanctioning and taking legal actions against abusers of the extant law.
Omokaro who lamented that the deplorable state of state library board and parliamentary libraries at the national and state assembly levels, also listed institutions that have appointed non-Librarians to head their libraries to include Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Kwara and Abia State Governments, all Federal Unity Colleges across the country as well as the Federal Capital Territory
He said: “This troubling trend not only undermines the expertise and professionalism of trained librarians but also hampers the effective management and development of library services in our nation.
“It may interest Nigerians to know that Library and Information Practice is a highly regulated Profession in Nigeria especially with the enactment of the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria Act No. 12 of 1995.
“This Council is mandated to determine who is a Librarian and it provided minimum standards for the training and practice of librarians in Nigeria. It is however unfortunate that employers of labour and in particular government agencies and private organizations do not respect the laws of the land hence the gross abuse.
“The Nigerian Library Association can no longer take this gross abuse of the laws of the land as it concerns our sector.”
He also call on President Bola Tinubu to direct the immediate completion of the National Library of Nigeria headquarters that has remained incomplete since the Second Republic despite the approval of funds by the immediate past administration for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to complete it.
The association, he said, boasts of over 14,000 members across the country, insisting that it was illegal for the Federal, state and private establishments to appoint non-professionals as librarians.
