The roles of libraries and librarians in integrating national development in South-Eastern Nigeria

The services of the libraries are to disseminate information and create awareness on issues of importance in the society. Often times, it is not very clear on what and how the entire community can be reached, thus denying some groups opportunities to be integrated toward actualization and contribution to the national development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the information activities provided by libraries and librarians in promoting development and social integration through identification of community members, harnessing the output indicators of what, where, when, why and how in engaging the people, investigating the constraints and the implications of the findings to community contribution toward national development.

The study was designed using Spidergram to incorporate 5Ws and H (who, what, when, where, why and how) in information engagement for social inclusion. There was no sampling as all the 88 participants have enriching discussion on sustainable development, filling the questionnaire that were structured on a four-point scale of strongly agree (SA), agree (A), disagree (D) and strongly disagree (SD). There was also the use of interview which the participants actively interfaced on. Data were collated and analyzed using frequency tables and mean scores with 2.5 benchmark set for acceptable or rejected item.

Result revealed that many people are unaware of national sustainable development but are willing to create spaces to be integrated in nation building. There is the need for libraries and librarians to provide information that goes beyond a simple consultation or support process but to expand into meaningful and inclusive collaborations, building stronger relationships and partnerships within the community. Participants expressed displeasure on late information, low literacy, lack of engagement from libraries and librarians, among others, and indicated that their meeting venues are excellent spaces for information activities.

If the community members are excluded from inclusive information participation, they will be denied of their fundamental rights to access to information. With that, they will not take their rightful place in sustainable national development. On the other hand, the libraries and librarians will continue to be relegated to the background. Since it has been established that many people need information and are willing to create spaces to get it, it is necessary that the best practices are adopted in adding values to national development.

Disseminating information to wide groups of audience enhances free discussion which can lead to understanding of needs, mutual respect, problem solving and increase in knowledge of national development.

This research employs spidergram with the adoption of who, what, where, when, why and how (5Ws and H) in tracing the engagements of libraries/librarians in service provision for active national development. it provides a unique approach toward investigating the relevance of libraries and librarians in ensuring national development.