FUNDING OF UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN THE SOUTH-EAST ZONE OF NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT

The study focused on the funding of university libraries in the south-east zone of Nigeria. To achieve the purpose of the study, five specific objectives and five research questions were posed to guide the study. The descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Data were collected from 12 universities in the area made up of 4 federal universities, 5 state universities and 3 private universities. A 50 – item questionnaire named funding of university libraries in the south-east zone of Nigeria (FULQ), which has 6 sections and a 5- item structured interview guide (OIGFUL) were  the  instruments used  for  data  collection.  The  percentage and  mean

statistics were used to analyse the data with a criterion mean of 2.5. The findings show that the university  libraries  sourced  their  funds  from  their  proprietors,  endowments,  photocopying services and library fees paid by students, among other sources. The funds that were received by the university libraries from 2002 – 2007 were inadequate, and this negatively affected the provision of services in the university libraries. The results also show that several factors, such as inflation and high exchange rates affected the funding of university libraries, while strategies such as commercialization of some library services such as printing were accepted as strategies for improving the funding situation in university libraries. The implications of the findings of the study were highlighted. It was concluded that the universities depended on the traditional ways of sourcing funds, which affected the adequacy of the funds and the provision of services. The study among other things recommended that the university libraries should not depend o these traditional methods of sourcing funds, and explore other ways such as commercialising some of their services and seeking external support in the development of specific projects.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

University education has assumed a centre stage in the development of Nigeria. The rate at which universities are established in Nigeria shows that the quest for knowledge is increasing. The university trains the country’s high level man power and is invariably a potent driver of its economic, political and social development. In the present age, no country can develop beyond the  level of its  educational institutions, especially universities. The  importance attached to university education for the development of high level manpower has led to the proliferation of universities in Nigeria. There were only five federal government owned universities in 1970, but now there are well over seventy-two universities. Though the Federal Government still maintains a lead in university ownership, state governments, corporate bodies and private individuals are now competing with the Federal Government.

Ifidon (1999) described the university as an institution of higher learning where students are trained in thinking, problem-solving processes and in vocational skills. He goes further to list the functions of universities as teaching; research publications; extension services; interpretation; conservation of knowledge and ideas, pursuit, promotion and dissemination of knowledge and information; provision of intellectual leadership; manpower development; promoting intercontinental unity and international understanding. This means that the universities exist for the purpose of equipping those who pass through them with high level skills to impact the society. To achieve the above functions of the university, information should be provided for both the teachers and the students in the form of books, audio-visual materials, computer and internet facilities etc. Most of these materials are located in the libraries and no university can exist without a good library. This is because the library is the storehouse of information and its materials are carefully chosen so that they can satisfy the information needs of the university.

A university library is one located in a university that provides an organized collection of printed or other materials that promote teaching, learning and research. It is also meant to serve the undergraduates, postgraduates, lecturers and other members of the university community. Furthermore, a university library is regarded as the heart of the intellectual life of the university. The quality of a university is largely determined by the quality of its library because of its unique

role in the university system. The main purpose of the university library is to help in fulfilling the objectives of the university, which include teaching, learning and research. Many researchers have advocated that the library could be useful in advancing education and research, more especially with the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

In view of the above, it is important to note that the fundamental role of the library is educational, hence it should not be operated as a mere storehouse of books attached to a reading room, but as a dynamic instrument of education. In realization of this, Line (1988) noted that the function of a university library is mainly to serve the university community and if possible, beyond to the fullest extent possible. The emphasis must be on communication between information and users. Moreover, he stated that the library has to develop into an information centre providing access to information that is available not only locally but also nationally and internationally by developing and applying new techniques and methods.   Aina (2004) also remarked that it is only the library that can play a distinctive and indispensable part in the central purpose of a university, which is to encourage the students in their personal and individual search for knowledge and understanding. In order to achieve all these, he warned that the libraries should be able to acquire and retain new sources of information.

The libraries in a bid to meet the set objectives of the universities provide a wide range of resources and services, which include monographs, textbooks, reference documents, audio-visual resources and other equipment like computer and internet facilities, current awareness services, abstracting  and  indexing  services  and  a  comfortable  reading  environment.  The  university libraries can only achieve their objectives if adequate funds are made available for the procurement and processing of materials, hiring of personnel, purchase and maintenance of equipment  because  finance  is  the  bedrock  of  every  organization  including  the  university libraries. Robert (2003) explains funding as the process of raising money or capital for any kind of expenditure. University libraries in many countries including Nigeria are facing major funding problems due to non-growing or even decreasing appropriations from the university administration and other funding agencies, continuing inflationary increases for journals and library materials, need for new or improved facilities, increased costs for new technologies and networks  and  more  demands  for  services.  Library administrators are  expected  to  improve services  and  facilities,  offer  the  latest  electronic  information  in  an  up-to-date  network environment and provide the best teaching and research support for all academic programmes.

However, observations show that Nigerian university libraries are hampered in achieving their objectives because of lack of funds too. Anafulu (1996) and William, (2000) opined that finance is essentially the process of providing fund for economic activities.

Ifidon (1999) noted that in a country such as Nigeria where there is a poor library infrastructure, there is a need for increased funding of university libraries. He however noted that the situation in Nigerian university libraries was far from ideal. As if that were not enough, many of the already acquired materials in these libraries are in danger of being lost. Today libraries find themselves in an environment of change caused by globalization, the internet and rapid technological changes. Even the mode, scale and ways in which we engage in learning, teaching and research are changing. With all these, the role of university libraries in learning and research remain fundamental to their mission because without libraries, learning and research will be very much impaired.

Jackson (1985) and Choy (2005) stressed that in this changing environment libraries have to find ways of securing their future existence. It is essential for them also to determine their place and role in the university setting and function accordingly because of the need to reform and restructure the library. To train and re-train practicing librarians in order to re-orientate and to  prepare them for these  new changes requires enormous funding. Even to  maintain  new facilities and equipment and build up the necessary collections and pay the library workers needs improved funding. It will be necessary for libraries to create means of attracting more funds to meet with these demands.

It has been established that fund is an indispensable tool for the achievement of the objectives of any organization. Without adequate financial support, libraries cannot effectively play the roles of the organization and administration of collections, staff maintenance, procurement of equipment (both new and old), satisfaction of user expectations and evaluation of services. According to Anafulu (1996), an academic institution cannot achieve the aim for its establishment  without  a  well equipped  library.  This  is  why  the  Academic  Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been insisting on improved funding of university libraries. Following from this, the National Policy on Education (FME, 2004) stated that the funding of the university libraries should be a shared responsibility among the government, the institutions themselves and students. Generally, most university libraries in Nigeria are highly underfunded. Therefore it is important to identify the sources of funding university libraries, especially when universities are

run by different governments, groups or individuals. In this part of the world the methods of financing university libraries vary greatly, depending on the ownership of the institution. The federal universities’ libraries are funded through the National Universities Commission (NUC) by the federal government; state universities’ libraries are funded by the state governments through the state ministries of education while the private universities’ libraries are funded directly by their proprietors. The implication of this is that the different libraries are funded according to the ability of their owners. Ifidon (1985), writing on sources of fund for university libraries, asserted that the library funds are derived from the institution, which is funded by government grants, contributions and gifts, endowments, student fees, investments and consultancy. In addition, university libraries may collect direct funds through over due book fines, photocopying proceeds, sale of duplicates and publications, and other charges. The main sources of fund for university libraries are the government in the case of institutions owned by governments or the proprietors in the case of private universities. Grants from the government account for the greater part of the total revenue of the academic institutions run by the various governments. It is through this grant that library allocations are made.

Ibrahim (1996) reports that funding of educational institutions and universities in particular was one  of the  pillars of the  agreement  signed  between ASUU and  the  federal government of Nigeria. According to the agreement, library services were placed under a special head, which should account for ten per cent of the total recurrent budget. According to him, this agreement led the NUC to prepare a memorandum on budgetary allocation for the academic libraries on behalf of the university libraries to the federal government in 1993, to the effect that recurrent grant to each university should be fully committed to the operations of the university library. According to him sixty percent of this amount should be committed to the purchase of books and journals, while forty per cent should be committed to personnel emolument and purchase of other consumables required by the library. However, this is hardly the situation in our universities.

Statement of the Problem

The central role of a university library is to provide appropriate information resources for teaching and research to its users including staff, students and researchers. The university library cannot perform this crucial role without adequate funding. Funds are required for the purchase of

new books and subscription to journals and other information sources, such as those relating to information communication technology. Adequate provision of these resources requires a substantial and sustained investment by universities, which in turn is subject to the availability of funds. However the financial position of most university libraries in Nigeria appears to be too weak to cope with the challenges.

Although the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) planned that ten per cent of the money released to universities should go to the library, the universities do not comply with this provision (Ibrahim, 1996). Other sources of fund like the minimal library fees and fines collected from users for violating library regulations do little to meet the funding needs of the libraries. This suggests that university libraries are not adequately funded and this may seriously affect the role of these libraries in information dissemination. In view of the foregoing, there is the need to find out  how the universities owned by governments, corporate bodies and  individuals are funded, and also to establish the funding trend over a period of time. The university libraries’ inability to meet with the expectations of their clients is a source of worry to all those who know that no university can go beyond the level of scholarship supported by its library. It is against this background of the strategic place of the library in a university that the researcher embarked on this study, to find out how these university libraries are funded over the years, and how the funding has affected them in meeting their needs. In other words, what is the funding situation in Nigerian universities’ libraries? How does the funding situation affect the operations of the libraries?

Objectives of the Study

The general purpose of this study was to examine the funding situation of federal, state, and  private  university  libraries  in  the  south-east  zone  of  Nigeria.  The  following  specific objectives guided the study:

1.        To find out the sources of funds for university libraries.

2.        To determine the adequacy of funding in university libraries from 2002 – 2007.

3.        To determine the effects of the funding situation on the provision of library services.

4.        To identify the factors that affect the level of funding for the university libraries.

5.        To proffer strategies for effective funding of university libraries.

Significance of the Study

This study is considered significant because the findings will be useful to the government and other university proprietors, library authorities, the universities as institutions, libraries and to the library users, researchers, academics and administration.

Both federal and state governments as well as private university proprietors will benefit from this study as it will reveal the benefits of information provision to them. This will also sensitize the university proprietors to the need to provide enough funds to the libraries to enable them meet with the demands and challenges in acquiring, maintaining and preserving materials for effective  information dissemination. It  will reveal the  funding pattern to the university libraries and then provide adequate reasons for more fund allocation to the university libraries.

When funding increases there will be increase in the number and  variety of library resources for the users of the library. This will no doubt result in improved user services. It will enable university authorities as well as other agencies to make adequate provision for funding university libraries.

The library workers/staff will experience job satisfaction because more modern facilities and resources, especially in the area of technology, will be available for them to do their work as a result of improved funding. On the side of the other libraries, with more materials in the university libraries effective inter-library loans will now increase.

To  researchers  who  are  working  in  a  similar  area,  the  study  will  provide  good background information for them because it will reveal how libraries are currently funded. The administration: the administration will also gain from the result of the study for it will help them to make a stronger case for improved funding as well as planning on the best way to raise more funds to supplement the allocation from the parent institution.

Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to federal, state, and private university libraries located in the South-East geo-political zone of Nigeria. The study was also limited to the issue of funding, constraints and effects of funding on university libraries for a period of six years from 2002 to

2007, the strategies for improvement.

Research Questions

1.        What were the sources of fund for university libraries?

2.        How adequate was the funding of university libraries from 2002 – 2007?

3.         What were the effects of the funding situation on the provision of library services in the universities?

4.        What were the factors that affect the level of funding of the university libraries?

5.        What are the strategies for effective funding of university libraries?

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