The Consequences of Extending a Country's Library Legislation to the Inclusion of Academic Libraries, with Special Reference to Nigeria.

An aspect of library legislation which is generally ignored is legislation that promotes the utilization of academic libraries to maximize the potential of a nation's resources. From the available literature it would seem that library legislation in developing nations still conforms strictly to the traditional view that library legislation should be restricted to enabling laws and depository obligations. This is certainly true of Latin America and the Caribbean. The defeat of S. R. Ranganathan's proposals for a Union Library in India in 1948 deprived developing nations of a shining example of a model library law. An overview of library legislation in Nigeria makes clear that the nation has followed essentially the enabling and depository law pattern. Academic libraries are depository only, enjoy no privileges established by law, and have few binding legal obligations to the outside community. While a number of universities have recently made some moves towards sharing their resources with their library-poor fellow countrymen, legislation supported by the academic community is needed to expand on the present base of academic libraries and establish a truly effective national library system. (RAA)