Librarians Conference: Varsity don harps on continuous training of library staff

By Usman Shuaibu

Professor Abdulrazaq Baba Abdulrahman from the Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State, has called on the administrators of the Colleges of education in Nigeria to deem it necessary to further build the capacity of library staff, in order to consistently  update their knowledge.

Abdulrahman, who presented the keynote speech of the national conference of the Committee of College Librarians in Nigeria. (COCLIN) entitled ‘The 5th Industrial Revolution and the Future of Library/Information Services Delivery in a Changing World: Colleges of Education Perspectives” held recently at the FCT College of Education, Zuba.

He pleaded with the chief executives of  colleges of education to train the librarians on a culture of innovation through staffers motivation and orientation, adding that library equipment should be upgraded to meet up with ICT tools.

He said frequent seminars as well as training on the 5th Industrial Revolution (IR) technologies such as data collections in information management should be encouraged by the provosts of colleges of education.

In his welcome address at the occasion, the Chairman of COCLIN, Dr. Ainoko Samson, disclosed that the association has witnessed the upgrading of six federal colleges of education to the federal universities of education.

He thanked the personalities who graced the occasion, especially the Provost of the FCT College of Education Zuba.

Also speaking, the Provost of the FCT College of Education, Dr. Sule Mundi, said his administration would continue to support the library staff of the college, and expressed gratitude for the participants for hosting the national conference in the college.

On his part, the lead paper presenter, prof. Ezra Gbaje Shiloba from the Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, charged the administrators to partner with the librarians so as to integrate the library into broader 5IR strategic plans for the sake of educational development.

However, a communique, which was issued and signed by the chairman of COCLIN at the end of the conference that pointed out some challenges faced by the librarians which include limited technological infrastructure, skills gaps among library staff, resistance to change and financial constraints.

It added that other challenges include; digital divide, cyber security and data privacy, inadequate policy strategic vision and content relevance and digital resources.