School Library Note

School Library Defined

School libraries/Media centres are libraries that are part of primary and secondary school

system. These libraries serve and ensure the students, pupils, teachers, principals, headmasters,

headmistress, proprietors and parents have access to various information resources. According to

Lawal Solarin (2016), school libraries also known as school library media centres, which are

found in preprimary, primary and secondary schools and are the backbones of functional

education without which academic excellence may not be achieved; they essential for literacy,

social, economic and cultural development of a nation. School libraries/media centres house

collections such as print materials like books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and journals. .

It further defines school library as “an organized collection of books placed in a school

for the use of teachers of pupils, but usually for pupils. It may comprise books of reference

and/or books for home reading, and be in the care of a professional librarian, teacher, or teacher-

librarian. Variously called an Instructional Material Centre, a Learning Resources Centre or a

Media Centre”

Purposes of School Library

1. To inculcate the habit of reading among children;

2. To provide documents to supplement teaching and learning;

3. To motivate students towards learning new things;

4. To provide them with comfortable furniture conducive to learning;

5. To provide guidance to them in every sphere of their life;

6. To sensitize them towards social issues of the country so as to shape a civil and altruistic

outlook;
 7. To provide light reading material for recreational purposes;

8. To help them in becoming creative writers as well as critical thinkers;

9. To provide advanced books to bright students;

10. To encourage them to use e-documents while facilitating e-learning;

11. To assist them in finding relevant information towards making them independent

learners.

12. To be the hub of cultural, traditional and intellectual activities;

Functions of School Library/Media Resource Centres

The following are functions of school library/media centre:

i. It provides information resources in various formats to enable children or students to develop

good reading habit and skills.

ii. It also provides foundational resources that can support pupils in the classroom. These

information resources include textbooks in various subjects based on the teacher’s requirements.

iii. School library/media centre provide information resources such as illustrated books and

pictures in large font size in order to capture the attention of children. Colourful books and

pictures can stimulate children to read and write, thereby developing passion for knowledge.

iv. It provides audio-visual materials that help children listen to stories about nature (sun, moon,

rain fall, rainbow etc.) and animals thereby inculcating good values in them. Pupils can listen to

talking books, and recorded stories. They can also watch educational videos and television

programs at their leisure.

v. It provides vocational information resources that will encourage students to choose good

career.
vi. School library/media resource centre acquire journals, magazines, articles, and bulletins on

various subject areas that enable teachers and other members keep abreast with current

happenings in their subject fields.

vii. Promotion of Self Study: The school library serves as an agency that support self- education

and study. It provides information resources in print and electronic formats with the main aim to

meet the needs of students and encourage self-development.

viii. Broaden of Interest: The school library expands the area of information and field of interest

of students by acquiring work of art written by past scholars. This will expose students’ books

written by others.

ix. Richness of Information: Books are the main source of information for students. According to

(World bank, 2008), emphasised that school libraries provide supplementary reading

opportunities for students that help improve their reading skills, knowledge, and writing and

clarity of expression, which in turn support student performance in all other syllabus subjects.

x. Source of Inspiration: Young ones are inspired by books especially at the early age. Therefore,

the library provides the needed motivation to all categories of learners in schools from the

smallest learner in the nursery to young adults in secondary school through the provision of print

and non-print materials to aid learning (Adeniji, 2006).

xi. Development of Study Habits: The school library helps students to engage in silent reading,

leisure reading, consulting books for specific information and reading for daily development. 6.

Leisure Time Hobby: School library give an opportunity for students to make good use of their

leisure time instead of channeling their energy in watching un-educational movies and games.
xii. Training in Proper use of Books: The school library through the librarian or media specialist

teaches the students rules and procedures of handling and using library materials and also how to

keep them neat.

School Library Media Specialist or School Librarian

A media specialist or school librarian or teacher librarian is a librarian that works in

nursery, primary, and secondary school libraries. He/she teaches students how to use the library.

He/she also assist teachers with information resources needs for classroom instruction and in

writing their lesson notes. The School Library Media specialist or School Librarian is in charge

of all the information resources in the media centre. These resources include books, DVDs, CDs,

magazines, software, pictures, photographs, and other electronic resources. The School Library

Media specialist or School Librarian is a professional who hold a bachelor degree in library

science or librarianship or information science.

Lawal-Solarin (2016: p. 16) opined that school library media specialists are professionals

who hold degrees in librarianship or information science, they suggest a variety of appropriate

print, non-print and electronic resources to supplement and complement classroom materials and

activities, and ensure proper organisation of the library resources for easy accessibility and use.

The school librarian plays a critical role in assisting pupils and students in developing good

reading habits. He/she also ensures that information resources are organized and classify for easy

and equitable access to students, teachers and other members of the school community. It is

worthy to note that school library media specialists or school librarians are not just teachers but

rather they answer students’ questions and recommend good reading materials to help students

academically, personal development and leisure. At this juncture, let us discuss some of the roles

or functions of school library Media specialist or School Librarian.

American Association of School Librarians (AASL) (2018) emphasized five (5) roles of school

library media specialist to include:

1. Instruction Partner: The school media specialist works with surrounding community to

develop programmes and policies. He or she also help the school community to develop

curriculum and assist teachers in developing lesson plan, learning activities based on standards,

teach information literacy skills, technological skills, information skills and media literacy.

2. Teacher: The media specialist serves as a teacher. He or she encourages children/students to

develop; good reading habit, critical thinking skills, Love for books Producers of information

The media specialist teaches students on how to use the library and how to properly or ethically

use information. This involves teaching students copyright laws and use policies.

3. Leader: The school media specialist ensures the mission and vision of the school is achieved.

Engaged in the development of curriculum, student advocacy, information literacy, professional

development and other library services to meet the teaching and learning needs of the students

and teachers.

4. Information Specialist: The school media specialist makes use of information technology and

encourage students and teachers to do the same. Teaches students how to navigate and find

useful information on various website. He/she makes use of social media such as Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram, Skype, and other tools to connect with students and answer their queries.

5. Programme Administrator: The media specialist ensures all member (students, teachers,

administrators and parents) have equal access to information resources and the library. “To

augment information resources available to the learning community, the school librarian works

actively to form partnerships with stakeholders and sister organizations at local and global levels.
The school librarian also addresses broader educational issues with other teachers in the building,

at the district level, and at the professional association level” (AASL 2018, 15).

Relevance of school library to students in Nigeria

i. Provision learning resources such print and non-print materials such as videos, films, e-books,

e-magazines which they students can at the end of the school day and during holidays.

ii. Provision of information resources to secondary school children to assist them in their

homework, assignment. Such information materials include children’s encyclopedia, journals,

magazines, tapes, records and cassettes.

iii. Provision of specialised resources for governmental activities through creation of a “special

document” section in the library and.

iv. Provision of leisure and other educational facilities such as games, sports, films and

filmstrips, slides, tape records, cassettes, fiction and non-fiction books.

Types of Information Resources or Collection in School Library/Media

Resource Centre Information resources in libraries are in various formats such as books,

maps, CD-ROM, compact disc, etc. Information resources acquired by school libraries include

books, manuscripts, serials, cartographic materials, graphic materials, sound recordings, motion

pictures, and video recordings, microforms and digital materials (Ternenge and Agipu, 2019).

Information resources in school libraries can neither be in printed of non-printed format.

Printed Information Resources: Printed information resources in school libraries are materials

that are in book or text format. The following are some printed resources found in school

libraries:

i. Books A book is defined as any document that has a collection of 49 pages or more that are

bound together with a unique title (Aina, 2004). Books are made up of pages, preface, table of
content, and may appear in volumes. Examples of books are textbooks and fiction materials like

novels.

ii. Textbooks: School libraries acquire more of books than electronic resources. Books come in

hardback and paperback and are written by author or authors in a specific subject area. There are

textbooks covering various subjects such as geography, integrated science, home economics,

physics and economics among others. The school library houses all these textbooks to support

students learning and teaching.

iii. Fictional Materials: These are books that are read for leisure. They also form part of the

school library resources and help to improve the reading skills of the students. These materials

include novels, comics and the story books. For example, comics books are important in school

libraries due to their ability to attract students especially teenagers. Popular Comic books include

Scooby-Do, Superman, Spiderman, wonder woman, Bat man, Flash etc

iv Serials: Serials are information materials that are published in consecutive parts with

numerical or chronological order and are published continuously. Serials are published daily,

weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-annually, or annually. Examples of serial

publications include Newspapers, periodicals, journals, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, and

conference proceedings.

v. Periodicals: These are publications that are published or come out at regular intervals such as

daily, weekly, monthly etc.

vi. Journals: These are serial publications on a specific subject area and are written by

professors, researchers, and scholars. It gives account of current development in a specific

subject field.
vii. Newsletters: These are publications used by organisations or institutions to communicate or

pass information to their customers regarding their products and services.

viii. Magazines: These are publications that contain stories, poem, essays, illustrations,

photographs and advertisements. They usually deal with issues relating to sports, music, fashion

etc.

ix. Conference Proceedings: These are published recorded articles or papers presented by

authors at conferences, congress or symposiums.

Non-Printed Information Resources

These are materials that are found in the library that are not in form of printed books, reference

materials, periodicals and government documents. As the name implies, they are not in printed

form

1. Graphical Materials: Graphical materials also known as visual materials are found in school

libraries. Examples of graphical materials are posters, graphs, charts, tables, diagrams, cartoons,

drawings, and photographs.

2. Cartographic Materials: These are information materials that represent part of the earth or

the whole earth. Examples of cartographic materials include maps, atlas and globes.

i. Maps: These are reference resources that are in form of illustrative or pictorial material.

They represent the geological, physical and natural features on a scale and on a flat medium.

ii. Atlas: Atlas is reference material that provide geographic information on physical and

climatic conditions of different places such as towns, states, countries, regions, continents;

Examples include The Times Atlas of the World, The Shepherd Historical Atlas etc. (Nworie &

Nwaigwe, 2017).
 iii. Globe: This is a round object that shows the map of the earth surface and on which

some other celestial body is pointed and can turn around on a base.

3. Online Databases: Online databases are electronic collections of information resources that

can be accessed and searched through the use of a computer that is connected to the Internet.

Databases allows users to search for a wide range of journal articles or reference to articles

online. The following are the types of online databases:

i. Full text Database: This is the compilation of information available for a certain book,

dissertation, encyclopedias, journal articles, newspapers, and magazines.

ii. Bibliographic Database: This provides bibliographic record or references to published

journals, magazines, conference proceedings, index, books and audio-visuals.

iii. Directory Database: This provides a list of information pertaining to users and

information of the domain.

iv. Numeric Database: This contains raw data or numbers. Example of numeric dataset

includes population, and census figures.

v. Mixed Database: This includes a mixture of the other types of databases.

4. Audio: These are sound recordings produced on tapes or compact discs. Examples are

magnetic tapes, audio tapes.

5. Visual: These are information resources that relates to seeing and sight like microfiche,

microfilm, filmstrips, and slides. There are different forms of visual resources and they include:

i. Three-dimensional Aids: This includes models and real things.

ii. Display boards: This includes chalkboard, poster board and magnetic board.

iii. Graphic Materials: This includes charts, maps, posters, and graphs

iv. Pictures: This includes photographs, drawings and motion pictures.

of audio-visual materials are video tapes or videocassettes etc. Wondimtegegn (2020: 481)

Audiovisual “aids help teachers to bring a significant change in the class environment as well as

in the teaching process. By using audio-visual aids in the class, teachers can present a topic both

verbally and visually which is very helpful for the learners to pay more attention in the lesson”

7. Realia: Realia are objects that depict real and are used in classroom to teach concepts.

According to Mardis (2016:202), realia are “three-dimensional objects from real life that can be

used for classroom instruction. They bring the real world into the hands of inquisitive users”.

Examples of realia are coins, specimen, stamps, postcards, games, toys and fossils. These items

can be used to teach students, for example, children that were not born in the 80s can see

Nigerian coins used back then.

Services Rendered in School Libraries

The following are the services rendered in school libraries:

1. Selection and Acquisition of Library Materials: School libraries have a department that is

responsible for the selection, and purchase of information resources. These information materials

include print and non-print material.

2. Organisation of Stock: one of the most important services provided by school libraries is the

organisation of library materials for easy access and use by library users. after selecting and

acquiring information materials into the library, these materials need to be organised properly

and places in their appropriate location on the shelves..

3. Current Awareness Service: This is a medium through which the library keeps the students

and the community informed about the newly acquired information resources in their respective

subject areas and interests. Newly acquired information resources are displayed in the library in
order to attract students’ attention. Most times, the media specialist circulate list of newly

acquired materials according to subject to students and administrators.

4. Circulation Service: This service is provided to ensure information resources or materials are

circulated to all users in the school.

5. Reference Service: The reference service desk allows students to consult information

materials that are not to be borrowed out of the library but used within the fore wall of the

library. The media specialist or school librarian provide answers to students’ questions by using

references sources such as encyclopaedias, handbooks, maps, dictionaries etc. The librarian also

provides assistance to users in locating and retrieving relevant information that will satisfy their

information needs. This shows that reference service involves personalised services to users and

as such media specialist must have good interpersonal relationship with the users.

6. User Education: User education is a “a holistic interactive learning process that presupposes

that a student recognizes the need for information and knows how to find, evaluate, use and

subsequently communicate information effectively to solve problems or make decision” (Idoko,

Asogwa, & Ugwuanyi, 2015: 2). In providing this service, the media specialist informs students

of the various information resources of the library and teaches them how to locate and retrieve

the needed resources. Students are also educated about the rules and regulations guiding the use

of library resources and the library.

7. Audio-Visual Service: Audio visual materials are important in school libraries due to their

unique roles in supporting teaching and learning. According to Adebowale and Ademola (2013),

audio visual materials are part of our cultural heritage because of its ability to carry enormous

amount of information that needs to be preserved for future use. They are the basic tools needed

in school.
Staffing in School Library

Staffing is the most essential resource in school library because they carry out the all

functions and operations of the school library. Staff acquires information resources in the library,

engage in curriculum development, and provide various library services to meet users’ needs.

There are three categories of staff in school library namely;

i. Professionals

ii. Para-professionals

iii. Non-professional staff

Professionals

Professional staff are those staff with graduate degrees in library science and other discipline.

They are library workers who have undertaken professional training in library science,

librarianship, or information science and hold a degree or postgraduate degree in these fields.

These professionals are responsible for all the activities of the library. They are also responsible

for; Charging and discharging of information resources, Identification of library users’ needs,

Analysis of identified problems, Defining of objectives of the library, Planning and organizing of

library operations, Directing and supervising the departments, sections and divisions in the

library, and Provision solutions to identified problems.

Para-Professional

The paraprofessionals are staff of the library that holds diploma/ OND certificate in library

science or librarianship. They assist the professional librarians in the technical and other

functions of the library; they carryout various activities on a daily basis under the supervision of

the professional librarians. This category of library staff work in all types of libraries, ranging

from school libraries, National libraries, assisting the professionals in registering new library
users, placing stamps and date use slips on newly acquired books, answering users’ queries,

monitoring users, shelving and re-shelving of library materials and supervising the use of books

by users within the library. academic libraries to public libraries. Para-professionals perform

numerous tasks ranging from charging and discharging of information materials in circulation

unit.

Non-Professional Staff

These are staff who carryout administrative activities in the library. They support the

professional and para-professional librarians in discharging their duties. There are different

category of non-professional library staff and they are:

i. Administrative Staff: These staff are not librarians but rather they in charge of maintaining

confidential records, minutes of meetings, personnel records regarding staff appointments,

promotion, and leave among others, maintaining of files, registers, and correspondence records.

They are also offer secretarial assistance to the school librarian.

ii. Clerical officers: These set of staff are usually secondary school certificate holders. They are

support staff to the administrative staff in the library.

iii. Library Attendants: These are non-professional staff that assists the librarians in the duties.

Funding in School Library

School libraries/media centres are institutions that provide services and do not make profit. As

such, money is needed for acquisition of information resources, purchase of computers and other

equipment like printers, scanners, projectors, and digital cameras among others. Funding is the

means of providing financial resources which could be in the form of money or other values to

finance a need, program, or project, usually by an organization or institution (Madu, Gomna,

Omame & Jubril, 2020). It is worthy to note that, most libraries in Nigeria be it academic, public,
or school libraries are owned and funded by the federal or state or local government through the

institutions. According to Anyanwu and Akanwa (2001), government owned institutions are

funded through consolidated fund taken from budget that is done on a yearly basis. For school

libraries owned by private bodies, they are funded by the owner of the institution. The amount of

money allocated to the school libraries to a great extent determines the quality of information

resources, personnel, and services provided by the library. The following are some possible

sources of funding to school libraries as Highlighted by Kumar (1997)

1. Declining financial support

About 90 per cent of the schools are substantially government funded. In recent times,

government has not faithfully released due grants to the schools. The lack of financial

resources retards positive change.

2. Inadequate infrastructure and equipment

The most widely experienced disappointment in public school today is the dilapidated

structure called library which cannot be compared with what obtain in the private schools in

Nigeria. The buildings housing the library do not merit the standard specification in terms of

library space per pupils while the furniture is grossly inadequate.

3. Employment of unqualified personnel

Staffing is also part of the problems hindering effective use of library and information centre

in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. The idea of using unqualified personnel as

school/teachers/librarian has not helped matters as most of them will not be able to assist in

the full exploitation of library resources as they were not educationally equipped to do so.

4. Emptiness of the book shelves

Kantumoya (1992) observed that African libraries are stocked with foreign literatures that

are not only out of date but also irrelevant to the information needs and interests of the

people. Collection development has become more difficult in recent times with escalating

book and publishing cost. Also, as a result of gross under-funding by Nigerian government,

current books, periodicals, magazines, fictions and non-fictions that can support teaching and

student use in the school’s library were not there.

Lack of financial resources and high cost of computer accessories has reduced the trends in

the adoption of automated library system in school libraries while such has limited access to

a variety of information on stored data. Also, where it is available, students were restricted

from using them.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ABADINA MEDIA RESOURCE CENTRE

The Abadina Media Resource Centre (AMRC) was founded in 1974 by the then Department of

Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of Ibadan. The centre serves as a research

and public service unit to provide educational resources to primary, secondary schools and

children libraries.

It was opened to the public in January 1975 consisting of the following activities;

Readers’ services

Research

Training

Loaning of information resources l

Counseling

Workshops for school library staff, authors/writers of children’s books, and consultancy in

development of school library.

It also manages the activities of other school libraries/media centres in Nigeria; the needed

information resources for the Nigerian educational system have been judiciously selected,

systematically organized using the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme and stored for easy

access and use and provide resources to assist students prepare for TOEFL, GRE, SAT and

GMAT examinations (Oyewusi, 2012). Olaojo (2015: P. 91) further highlighted some of the
Roles or functions of Abadina Media Resource Centre (AMRC) to the user community

include;

1. Promote educational research into books and learning resources management and their

production for primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education.

2. Conduct courses for school librarians, teacher- librarians, children’s librarians, library

assistants and courses in School Media for media specialists in primary and post-primary

institutions.

3. Teach the love and desire for books in children through the establishment of model resource

centre in Nigeria.

4. Design and promote curricula for library use education in the Nigerian school’s system

thereby preparing children with appropriate learning skills for life-long learning.

5. Provide advisory and consultancy services to government, schools, colleges and other

organizations in relation to management of school libraries/media resource centres.

6. Organise seminars, workshops, conferences, demonstrations and exhibitions on school

librarianship, children’s literature and other learning resource materials and their management.

The centre has five (5) academic units which are as follows:

1. Bibliographic and reading: This unit house a collection of all available children’s book and

other media such as audio-visuals, videos, pictures, maps and others. The unit also promotes

proper reading culture of the Nigerian child.

2. Model School Library Media Centre: The duty of this unit is to provide multi-media

resources and the services for use by children of all ages and adults such researchers, teachers,

parents or librarians who are working with children. All of these learning resources are to help

the Nigerian children form good reading habit.

and also its teaching programmes. The unit also offers courses in school media at Diploma,

Master’s and Doctoral levels.

4. Audio-Visual and e-Learning: This unit develops programmes to improve the information

literacy skills of the students, children, teachers, young adults, adults and general users of the

centre. This unit also helps children and other users to keep up-to-date with technological

advancement.

5. Consultancy and Outreach Programmes: This unit manages the consultancy services of the

centre in the development of school library media centres and programmes in Nigerian schools.

Information literacy programmes and functional skills for children and young adults are also

managed by the unit.