Sustaining Nigeria ’s Democracy: Public Libraries as an Indispensable Instrument in Anambra State

Abstract

A survey of the historical and contemporary facts and figures presents Nigeria as a Nation battling to entrench the values of democracy. Much remains to be done to reinforce this progress and prepare the nation for the political realities of democracy in the 21st Century. The citizens need to be enlightened and informed to actively participate in the democratic process. The role of the library as a social utility institution in this respect is indispensable and significant. The paper examined the public library as an agent of social and political transformation in Anambra State. It reviewed the services, activities, resources, manpower and facilities offered to position it for the political re-engineering required for democracy to be sustained. The population of the study covered the State public library and it’s seven divisional libraries in Anambra State. The respondents included library users and staff. Questionnaire, oral interview and participants observation were instruments used for data collection. The result of the investigation revealed that the public libraries’ potentials if adequately harnessed will serve as a catalyst and dynamic force for a pervasive and complete cultural and political revolution capable of nurturing the psychosocial and political new dawn of individuals, the clan, the community and the entire nation. The findings indicates that current awareness programmes, information repackaging, and community based services of the public libraries are not viable though they are instruments for reaching out to the remote areas for increasing civic information awareness. However, paucity of funds, inadequate manpower development, high rate of illiteracy, lack of basic infrastructure, inadequate policy formulation/implementation and socio-cultural factors were highlighted as hindrances to the success of these ideals. Recommendations include among others, restructuring of the public libraries through increased funding, ICT and man power development, creating awareness and review of the policies affecting public library systems in Nigeria.