- unveils five-year strategic plan, new logo at 60th year event
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Library of Nigeria (NLN) has disclosed that 1,000,574 International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN), as well as 27,755 International Standard Serials Number (ISSN) have been issued out since inception in 1976.
It added that presently, the NLN has preserved over five million titles in over 13 million volumes of resources stored in various locations across the country inclusive of 2.5 million titles and 7.5 million volume resources of Nigerian origin.
National Librarian, Prof. Chinwe Anunobi, disclosed these at a press conference, in Abuja, on Friday, to herald the 60th year celebration of the NLN.
She explained that NLN was primarily established as the Nation’s memory with the responsibility of collecting all intellectual resources published and unpublished in Nigeria, by Nigerians about Nigeria and preserve them for posterity.
“This task we have done well over the past 60 years of existence. NLN has provided access to resources on Nigeria and other nations of the world for education, research, lifelong learning and cultural development. This has been done through the establishment of branches of the National library in all the states of the federation and the FCT.
“From the initial one service point in Lagos, we now operate in 33 state branches and the FCT. Two branches, Enugu and Plateau states, were established in the 1970’s , 10 were established in 1980s, three in 1990s, eight between 2000 and 2010, while the rest came onboard between 2012 and 2020. These branches have rendered services to over 32 million footprints, with more than seven million unique visitors, while we are still counting,” she said.
She further disclosed that technology has deployed in all operations and services of the NLN, serving as the platform for the realization of the NLN’s mandate in line with the global best practices.
The National Librarian, however, disclosed that the five-year strategic plan of NLN (2025-2030), as well as new logo of NLN will be unveiled at the 60th year event scheduled for next week.
She explained: “A glance at the logo and the document will provide a better explanation for the theme of our celebration ‘The Future of Libraries in a Digital Age: Preserving Heritage, Expanding Access and Engaging Youth’.
“It is also a pointer that going forward the NLN must design education, research and cultural development programs that will not only attract the youths, but transform them as very important and valuable asset of this Nation.
“By way of elaboration, we will not be found wanting in the global information concerns including open access and knowledge sharing, enhancing discoverability and user engagement, building a smart library infrastructure, competence transformation and capacity building, strengthening collaborative networks, while we envision a sustainable future.”