National Library Shuts Digital Section As Users Lament Power Outage, Poor Maintenance

The National Library in Abuja appeared to have shut its e-library section to users for nearly one week now due to lack of regular power supply.

The National Library is supposed to be the compendium of literary and scholarly materials, particularly those written by Nigerians at home and abroad.

According to the library’s website, it is committed to the collection of all published materials in Nigeria as well as materials published by Nigerians anywhere in the world and about Nigeria, making the same available to readers both in physical/hard copies in our branches and digital formats through the national virtual library.

However, this is not the case in the FCT branch located in Area 2.

THE WHISTLER went to the National Library on Monday, 13th March 2023 to observe the virtual library section and the soft copy materials offered by the library however, and found e-library section shut because there was no power supply.

THE WHISTLER was told there was no electricity in the area and the library’s generator was not functioning. Thus, it was impossible to use the virtual library and it was shut.

The trip was repeated on Thursday, the 23rd, and Monday, the 27th and still there was no light. It was gathered that the library has not had light for more than a week.

It was observed that the reading section of the library was hot and stuffy as the air conditioners could not be used due to the power supply challenge.

But further investigation of the library showed that the problem was not just power supply. The books on the shelves were dusty and haphazardly arranged, an evidence that they were not being cared for properly.

A quick perusal of the shelves shows that some of the most recent books on display were published between 2009 and 2012.

For example, in the health section one of the most recent books was titled, “Head Injury. A practical guide” which was published in 2009 and received by the library in 2010. While in the culinary and home economics section, a recent publication was a book titled, “Foundations of Restaurant Management & Culinary arts” was published and received by the library in 2012.

The upper floor of the library is where archived copies of newspapers are kept, and they seemed to be in relatively good condition.

THE WHISTLER spoke to some of the library’s patrons about their overall impression of the library and their experience using it.

Peace was a first-time user of the National Library but she said she does not see herself coming back because of the heat.

“This is my first time here, I’m studying for the bar finals but I’m not sure if I will be back because of the light situation. It is very quiet though, so if I find out that the light situation gets better I might consider it,” she said.

Gift, a student studying for the upcoming Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), said she first started using the library a few days prior to study for the examination.

She added that the library staff usually turn on the generator when there is no light but they had not turned it on for the last few days.

Regarding the availability of books in the library, Gift said she tried getting a textbook on Christian Religious Studies (CRS) once and she was unable to find it so she usually just studies with her own books.

Obose, another student studying for the SSCE, said he comes to the library every day and the power situation has become worse recently.

“At a point, there was light often, but recently it has been very bad. They usually turn on the generator when there’s a power outage but they haven’t been turning it on recently”, he said.

Obose also said he brings his books from home because he had been told by a friend that the library doesn’t usually have books that students need.

Chukwudi was doing some research for his Ph.D. thesis, using the newspaper archives and he spoke about the good condition of the newspapers and how helpful the library staff are.

“The library doesn’t have a lot of books, especially modern books. The staff is very friendly and helpful to users. For now, however, I’m using only newspapers not books, because I’m doing the content analysis for my thesis and the newspapers are well-kept, bound, and in good condition.”

THE WHISTLER attempted to speak to the Head Librarian at the library, but she declined to speak without proper authorization from the National Library Headquarters.

However, a visit to the headquarters to obtain the permission did not yield results as the Head of Department for the Public Relations Division was not around