ENUGU – The Nigerian Library Association has called for the inclusion of library science in the curriculum of secondary schools.
The National President of the association, Mr Rilwanu Abdulsalamit, made the call in Enugu on Tuesday at the association’s 52nd Annual General Meeting and Conference.
Abdulsalami said the inclusion would help to train professionals to manage both manual and digitised libraries in the country.
“We need to articulate the issue and organise the manpower before we can go to the government or WAEC to see if the subject can be included in the school curriculum,’’ he said.
The president called on state governments to upgrade public libraries to international standard as a way of improving the reading culture of the youth.
He also appealed to state governors to increase the funding and remuneration of librarians.
Some of the participants appealed to the government to assist in the digitisation of libraries to improve education in the country.
Mr Christopher Onwukwe, a librarian from Anambra, called for decisive measures to involve the youth who were more versatile in software installations.
“The government must try not to play politics with readership and education to enable the country to achieve its Millennium Development Goals,’’ Onwukwe said.
Another librarian from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Mrs Ngozi Osadebe, called on the government to provide more books to public libraries in the country.
The meeting was attended by librarians from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. (NAN)