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Academic Library System

Notes

Task Write the advantages of attaching the academic libraries with the academic institutions.

3. What Development?

Libraries achieve high value-added at the level of the institution, but of what value are they
in community and national development? The answer to this question depends on what we
think the goals of development are. In classical terms, the purpose of development is to attain
increased productivity for economic growth. Economic growth has not however, provided
solution to rural exodus, marginalization of the weak, galloping urbanization, proliferation of
shanty-towns, mass unemployment, increased poverty and spread of deadly diseases. As
Julius Nyerere stated, “the truth is that development means the development of people. Roads,
buildings, the increases in crop output, or other things of that nature, are not development;
they are only tools of development”. This and similar thread of thinking lead to the notion
of human development: the increasing of people’s chances to acquire knowledge and have
access to resources that would enable them to lead healthy, gainful and dignified life. To be
pragmatic, development efforts should be aligned with the current regional and global development
strategies such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) which are multidimensional and lay emphasis on human development
and sustainability (United Nations, 2002). Libraries can play direct as well as catalytic roles
in contemporary development initiatives. The many dimensions of these roles are outlined
below.

4. Libraries Harness Information and Knowledge

Libraries increase the value of human intellectual outputs by increasing access to them through
professional processing, storage and dissemination. Processing and organisation moves ideas,
data and other primary intellectual outputs from raw bytes to information. The world’s intellectual
outputs would be useless, even constitute a nuisance, if libraries were not there to gather,
analyze, classify, catalogue and provide access to them. The hundreds of bibliographic records
of published and unpublished materials ensure their use and reuse to satisfy commercial,
educational, cultural and recreational needs.

5. Critical in the Educational Process and Continuing Development of Intellectual Capital

The educational and research role of libraries cannot be over-emphasized. Research has found
that libraries make significant contributions to the effectiveness of the education process.
Learners from institutions where library use is part of the learning process are more likely to
become equipped for the society and occupational effectiveness than those without proper
library habits. Libraries are also central for the development of literacy, a critical component
of the development of intellectual capital of a community, an attribute which initiates a ripple
effect on an individual’s ability to become gainfully employed, increase his or her income and
make effective contributions to society. Community members use library services and library
programmes for everything from introducing their children to the habit and joy of reading, to
tapping into their professional networks.

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