Reps move to revive public library services in Nigeria

The House of Representatives on Thursday moved a motion to revive public library services in the country.

This was sequel to the unanimous adoption of the motion by Rep. Joseph Edionwele (Edo-PDP), at the plenary on Thursday.

Moving the motion earlier, Edionwele said that the National Library Act, 2004 provides for the establishment of the National Library Board.

He explained that the board was saddled with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining the national libraries and also provides services that would promote the library culture.

According to him, most public libraries in Nigeria were established in the 1980s or earlier when many of the existing states of the Federation had not been created.

Edionwele, however, said due to under-funding and poor maintenance, most of the reading materials therein had become outdated and the buildings dilapidated.

The lawmaker said most public libraries in the country were not digitally compliant as was the global best practice.

Edionwele observed that low income families needed the services provided by public libraries in order to have access to expensive books and other educational needs.

According to the legislator, the current state of public libraries does not encourage reading culture among the citizenry, especially among the youths and called for urgent funding to upgrade the facility.

He called for the modernisation of the existing National Library and establishment of new offices in cities across the country.

In his ruling, the Speaker of the House, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, mandated the Committee on Basic Education and Services to interface with the Federal Ministry of Education to revive the library culture and report to the house within eight weeks.