VC UNVEILS LIBRARY PROJECT, TEAM BUILDS RELATIONSHIP WITH NEIGHBOURING LIBRARIES

For academic libraries, effective collaboration is no longer an option but a necessity. The world around academic libraries is changing rapidly (Pinfield, Cox, & Rutter, 2017).

As part of measures to promote collaboration amongst libraries especially in the Asaba axis of Delta State, the ADUN Library Staff led by Mr. Sylvester Ebhonu, visited Delta State Polytechnic Ogwashi-uku (DSPG) Library and Delta State Public Library, Asaba to mark the end of the National Library Week Celebration on Friday 22nd November, 2019. The visit to both libraries was an eye opener as the Library team was enlightened on processes and technologies used in effective library management and service delivery.

The visit to DSPG Library was a fruitful one as the Polytechnic Librarian, Dr. Alex Obuh and his HOD, Library Science, Mrs Ayobi Grace received with joy the ADUN Library Team. The Polytechnic Librarian stressed on the need for such gestures to be sustained in order to collaboratively carry out relevant information-driven programmes that could impact largely on students and the community at large. In his words, “Having younger generations of Librarians who work collaboratively will go a long way in rejuvenating the entire Library System, and we in this Asaba axis can be pacesetters. Initiatives like this and modern solution can be introduced to the Library Association because the strength of every association is as strong as the association of its members.”

Upon arrival at the Delta State Public Library, Asaba, ADUN Library Team was warmly received by the Director, Mrs. Rosemary Eboh and Miss Obuzome Ayadiunor, Schooville Librarian. The Director expressed her concerns for the rate at which habit of reading has drastically dropped. According to her, “Reading habit means a continuous way of accessing something in blueprint. As Librarians, we must continue to draw programmes especially for primary schools, which is the foundation, to solve this problem.” She narrated her experience on one of her outreaches to schools in Asaba, where she introduced the importance of libraries and reading culture, she found out most of the children do not even know what a library is… She also cited a situation where a parent would lock up the children indoors during holidays, fuel the generator, encouraging them to get busy watching movies till she returns from an outing, instead of investing in the educational and morale growth of the children. This according to her “calls for parents to do their bit in helping to promote a good reading culture which can be sustained from primary to tertiary education levels.”

The climax of the library week celebration was the installation of the ADUN Mirror at the entrance of the University Library by the Library Staff, which was unveiled by Prof. Paul Omojo Omaji (Vice Chancellor, Admiralty University of Nigeria) on Monday 25^th November, 2019.

According to the Library Coordinator, Mr. Sylvester Ebhonu, during the brief ceremony to commission the project, “ADUN MIRROR is christened to check bad dressing, encourage good dressing habits and promote self-confidence among members of the University Community.” He used the opportunity to call on ‘friends of the library’ to make book donations to the Library, stressing on the need for constant funding, support and empowerment of libraries in bringing about overall transformational development.

Reacting, the Registrar of the Admiralty University of Nigeria, Dr. Aliyu Bafeto and Prof. Daniel Omoweh of the Faculty of Arts and Social Science applauded the gesture and encouraged other staff present at the event to emulate such initiatives. In the words of the Registrar, “It is not about the mightiness of the project, but it is about the spirit behind it, the significance and how it relates to impacting the dress habits of our students. At our various departments, we should keep thinking of something to enrich/improve ADUN, not only what ADUN Management can do for us.”

In his remarks on the project, Prof. Paul Omojo Omaji, the Vice Chancellor of the Admiralty University of Nigeria celebrated the Library Team for the ADUN Mirror Initiative and acknowledged the importance of ‘younger’, experienced and innovative hands in a unique University as ADUN. He hoped that the idea would be replicated in strategic areas on Campus. On the importance of the ADUN Mirror, he said - ‘a plain mirror is a reflective object. Whatever you see in a mirror is exactly what you are. “I refer to the Library as the Power House. If you want to know how much intellectual development you have acquired over the years, enter a library and count how many books you have read - it is a mirror in which you see your intellectual image. The image you see will help you work out what your life is.”

He rounded up with a song he wrote in the year 1982:

I am standing,

Standing before the mirror

The Mirror is the word,The Shining word of God

To know the stuff I’m made of

I must look at my marrow facing the Mirror

With the assistance of the Registrar and Prof. D. Omoweh, the VC unveiled the ADUN Mirror, which had the inscription “LUMINARY LEADERS LOOK GOOD AND FEEL GOOD.”

The entire staff of the Library wishes to express her profound gratitude to the Vice Chancellor (Prof. Paul Omaji), the Management and Members of the Admiralty University of Nigeria Community for the support and cooperation throughout the celebration of National Library Week 2019.