Category Archives: Essay

Libraries as Potential Key Players in Nigeria’s Economic Diversity and Exchange Rate Solutions

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By Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo,
Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria,

Muhammed Jamiu Soliudeen,
Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti. Ekiti State,

Arinola Oluwatoyin Gbotoso,
Federal College of Agriculture Akure Ondo State,

and Oyekanmi Gabriel Okediji,
Federal College of Education Iwo Library, Osun State.

Abstract

As Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria grapples with systemic challenges including exchange rate volatilities, rising inequality and pervasive poverty constraining inclusive growth. This paper explores the overlooked potential of public libraries to address these multidimensional issues through their expansive reach, accessibility and community trust. Specifically, it delineates five pathways of impact: providing access to economic data and research to inform policy decisions; fostering financial literacy among citizens through workshops on personal finance and exchange rate mechanics; supporting entrepreneurship and export competitiveness with tailored advisory services; catalyzing grassroots advocacy coalitions to drive equitable growth reforms; and forging strategic partnerships with diverse institutions to integrate interdisciplinary perspectives. By highlighting these avenues for libraries to collaborate with academia, industry, government and non-profits, this analysis underscores the merits of increased investment into library infrastructure, technology access and programming to maximize their development contributions. It calls upon policymakers to formally recognize libraries’ change-agent role across literacy promotion, business enablement, community mobilization and localizing policy solutions.

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Formalizing the Informal: Making Conversations with Faculty Count

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by Jenna Pitera
Instruction Librarian
Union College

My colleagues joke that I am always selling. I am an instruction librarian at a small liberal arts college that calls itself ‘very relationship based.’ When I came to Union College in Upstate New York, in a barely post-pandemic world, I had an uphill battle to climb when I tried to communicate the utility of our library to the campus. During the pandemic, the library was a rockstar amongst campus services, finding innovative ways to continue services and instruction in a remote environment, but despite my colleagues’ immense efforts, many faculty had moved to a research instruction model where they sprinkled how to find research articles into their standard lessons, using the methods they employ in their own research rather than working with librarians. “I just teach my students what I do” said an economics faculty member to me when I asked him how he works with the library. “I know how to find articles.”
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Connecting with Faculty and Students by Taking Courses: The Role of Humility in Building Relationships

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By Garrett Trott
University Librarian
Corban University

Introduction

Faculty are often known for their depth of knowledge in a particular domain. From this depth, faculty teach, introducing students to various disciplines. While it is not uncommon for librarians to have advanced degrees in specific fields along with a master’s degree in library science (or a related field), they often offer services such as information literacy instruction and reference inquiries for disciplines where they may not know much more about the topic than students. Unfortunately, a librarian’s lack of disciplinary mastery may be challenging when collaborating with faculty, individuals with expertise. Additionally, departmental silos, often made up of individuals who have mastered a specific discipline and the subsequent disciplinary jargon, are typical in many academic contexts and can easily intimidate any individual lacking expertise.1 While interdisciplinary work has striven to bridge departmental silos, the knowledge needed to work in almost any discipline can be provoking and challenge many interdisciplinary components of academia.

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Negotiating the Power Dynamics of Librarian-Led Instruction: Strategies for Overcoming the Limits of One-Shot Instruction

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Michelle Bishop, First-Year Experience Librarian,
Nicole Westerdahl, Research, Instruction, and Outreach Librarian,
and Deborah Bauder, Research, Instruction, and Outreach Librarian,
State University of New York at Oswego

Introduction

By its very nature, the traditional one-shot information literacy instruction session goes against most pedagogical best practices, yet remains a common format for instruction in academic libraries. The typical one-shot, as implied by its name, is a one-time instructional session where librarians provide varying levels of instruction on library or research related topics. The persistent struggles associated with this teaching model continue to dominate the information literacy literature. The history of this discussion has centered on debates about the instructional role of librarians, calls for better collaborations with discipline faculty, meaningful assessment, inclusive teaching practices, librarian burnout, and effective professional development. Despite the abundance of articles addressing these challenges, librarians continue to grapple with this instructional method and to explore creative approaches to mitigate the many well-documented pedagogical challenges of the one-shot.

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Harnessing Library of Things for Citizen Livelihood Sustenance in Nigeria: Role of Librarians’ Social Entrepreneurship

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By Adebowale Jeremy Adetayo, Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
and
Olateju Abayomi Adeleke, Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has been facing a severe economic crisis, which has led to a sharp increase in poverty rates. The rising cost of essential commodities has further compounded the problem, making it increasingly difficult for citizens to sustain their livelihoods. In light of these challenges, librarians can play a critical role in ensuring that citizens are better equipped to cope with these economic pressures by engaging in social entrepreneurship and harnessing the library of things. By adopting collection development practices that prioritize items of critical societal relevance, librarians can build a robust library of things that can be made available to citizens through purchases, donations, and gifts. Given their customer-focused training, librarians are well-positioned to play a key role in delivering these services and ensuring that citizens have access to the tools and resources they need to sustain their daily lives. The article argues that leveraging the library of things as a social enterprise is a profitable and effective strategy for supporting the daily lives of ordinary Nigerians. To achieve this goal, policies must be developed that encourage the development of library of things and seek government support to ensure its success and expansion. By doing so, librarians can contribute to building a more sustainable and equitable future for all Nigerians.

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