Council to conduct ‘point-of-graduation’ induction for librarians

The Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) says it has secured approval from the Federal Ministry of Education to commence what it describes as ‘Induction-at-point-of-graduation, to ensure that more graduates of Library and Information Science are certified while quacks are flushed out of the system. Also, the LRCN has reviewed the curriculum for Library and […]

The Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) says it has secured approval from the Federal Ministry of Education to commence what it describes as ‘Induction-at-point-of-graduation, to ensure that more graduates of Library and Information Science are certified while quacks are flushed out of the system.

Also, the LRCN has reviewed the curriculum for Library and Information Science to be used in schools across the country.

The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the LRCN, Professor Michael Afolabi, made this known during a national workshop on ‘Electronic Resource Management Systems in Libraries’ held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Library, University of Nigeria Nsukka.

He said the point-of-graduation induction will commence from the 2018/2019 academic session, noting that the council was determined to ensure that more graduates are certified in order to emerge as globally competitive professionals.

Prof Afolabi,  who decried the “growing quacks” in Nigeria’s library sector, said the LRCN had written to all employers of labour to recruit and promote only certified librarians, emphasizing  that “we are pushing this move further to ensure that quacks are flushed out of the system.”

He said: “There are quacks; people who don’t have degrees and are posing as if they have one. We are going to conduct a survey in which the researcher will move from one geo-political zone to another until the six zones in the country are covered. We will then have an idea of the number of quacks in our midst.”

The registrar said till date, the council has registered 5,437 certified librarians, noting that plans are underway to include the registration with LRCN in the basic requirements for the practice of librarianship in the federal scheme of service.

He re-stated the council’s call on all holders of degree in Library and Information Science to register with LRCN and become certified librarians.

Earlier, while declaring open the workshop, the chairman of the occasion and Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Benjamin Ozumba, described library as a very critical component of university education.

He said: “This requires that it must be fully online deconstructed for its global visibility and relevance. It is by so doing that the library can provide all the support needed for transformative change in the university. 

“For the library to be a change agent, it must have all that it takes to function and compete in the global information environment.”