Dr. Dominic Omokaro, President and Chairman of the Council of the Nigeria Library Association (NLA), has expressed concern that Nigerians are increasingly neglecting libraries.
Speaking on Saturday in Abuja during a briefing for journalists on the sidelines of the NLA 2024 Award Dinner, themed “The Library as an Agent of Change in Contemporary Nigeria,” he emphasized the critical role libraries play in societal progress.
“The idea of the library being an agent of change is that if we want to make Nigeria a leading nation, we need to get people back to the library. By doing so, we can build a reading society, and any reading society is a leading society because readers are leaders,” Omokaro stated.
He also dismissed the notion that artificial intelligence could replace libraries, asserting, “You still need the human factor, and to study effectively, you need the library”.
“The environment of the library provides a supportive audience, and that sense of leaving home to study is invaluable compared to studying in isolation.”
Guest speaker Dr. Chinyere Ibeh highlighted the importance of libraries in research, describing them as “the fulcrum of research and development” essential across all fields.
However, she noted that libraries in Nigeria face significant challenges, including a shortage of physical and virtual libraries relative to the population, a wide digital divide, and insufficient investment and funding from stakeholders.
“If we are to harness the full potential of libraries as agents of transformation, we must address the limitations impacting their reach and effectiveness by investing in both physical and digital infrastructure and empowering librarians with the necessary tools and training,” Ibeh added.
