By Felix Khanoba
Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN), a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Education, has kicked off the accreditation of library programmes in
all the library schools across Nigeria.
The pilot accreditation exercise took place at the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
A statement, issued by the Deputy Director of Public Relations at the LRCN, Mrs. Ngozi Oboh, quoted the Council’s Registrar/CEO, Jaáfaru Abdullahi Wase as disclosing this during the opening ceremony of the National Workshop on Application of New Technological Trends in Libraries held at the University of Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Wase stated that the accreditation of library schools programme is part of the
mandate of the Council contained in the LRCN establishment act.
“The accreditation exercise is for quality assurance purposes and to ensure that libraries adopt standards set by the Council for academic libraries in terms of content, facilities and staffing as well as assessing their use of the curriculum and
benchmarks set for different categories of libraries,’’ he said.
Wase also informed the participants that LRCN plans to accredit two more tertiary institutions by July 2023 even as stakeholders agreed that accrediting the library schools programme by the foremost regulatory agency in the sector is a step in the right direction.
Speaking at the event, Librarian of the University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Helen Emasealu, said that the accreditation exercise was a welcome development.
According to her, the move would ensure that library schools and other libraries would be aware that there are rules to follow in running their institutions.
“It is only when you do assessment that you have a bigger picture.
“Those who do not comply (with the standards) will be sanctioned,” she said.
On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor
Onwunari Abraham Georgewill, in his remarks at the ceremony, commended the
LRCN for its activities and stated that a university without the library is not a
university at all as libraries occupy key position in the life of every higher education institution.
