Council advises VCs on non-qualified librarians

Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) has called on all vice-chancellors and other heads of tertiary institutions to employ and promote only certificated librarians in the country.

A statement signed by Assistant Director, Information, Mrs. Ngozi Oboh, said the Registrar/ CEO of LRCN, Professor Michael Afolabi, made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the Vice-Chancellor, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Professor Ignatius Akhakhia Onimawo.

He said the call became necessary in view of the key roles that libraries play in the education system, explaining that books, journals, research materials in both audio and visuals, used in learning and teaching, were preserved in libraries.

“A library accounts for storage of knowledge and information that help men in their pursuit of excellence and in generating new schools of thought, making innovative discoveries, and generally contributing to world information and knowledge.

“Libraries are indeed self-contained educational establishments that can shape the educational destiny of students and even others, who come into contact with them”, he added.

Afolabi, therefore, stated that only qualified library and information science professionals could deliver services that would guarantee positive learning and teaching experience in the institutions.

The vice-chancellor, who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, (Administration), Professor Jude Aigbe Agho, said adequate strategies would be put in place to ensure that all librarians, within the university system, were certified and that a process to weed out non certificated staff would be considered.

The courtesy visit, held on the sidelines of the sensitisation meeting for library and information science professionals in the south-south geo-political zone, was organised by the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria in Edo state.

Afolabi said the meeting was put together for the stakeholders to brainstorm on how to advance librarianship in the country.

The stakeholders were briefed on LRCN’s activities and upcoming events including the Council’s conference of certified librarians, induction and the workshop on data base management to be held at Ibadan next month.

Leave a Reply