ISSN: 2474-3542 Journal homepage: http://journal.calaijol.org 

 

Local Content in Information Management: The Story of 

the Celebrated Content of the First University Library in 

Nigeria 

 

Taiwo Adetoun Akinde 
 

Abstract: 

This article expresses the pride of the nationally and internationally patronised and 

celebrated services and resources at the Kenneth Dike Library (KDL), University of Ibadan, 

the first university library in Nigeria. The work outlines the Library’s history from 

inception to date, emphasising the rarity, age, uniqueness and the relevance of its contents 

in the face of modern and emerging information and communications technologies. The 

contents discussed include print and non-print materials (for instance, electronic resources 

and the institution’s repository), artefacts, realia, pictures, drawings, processes, services, 

capacity, architecture, management and personnel deployed in the main and branch 

libraries of the University of Ibadan Library system. The author proffers reasons why the 

KDL is perceived the best among other university libraries in Nigeria and highlighted ten 

recent “firsts” recorded by the Library which have further enhanced its reputation as the 

first and the best. The work concludes with a call on the private sector and good spirited 

individuals to support the federal government of Nigeria and the University of Ibadan 

towards achieving all the laudable goals of the KDL for now and the future. 

 

To cite this article: 

Akinde, T. A. (2021). Local content in information management: The story of the 

celebrated content of the first university library in Nigeria. International Journal of 
Librarianship, 6(1), 89-104. https://doi.org/10.23974/ijol.2021.vol6.1.177 

 

To submit your article to this journal:  

Go to https://ojs.calaijol.org/index.php/ijol/about/submissions 

 

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP, 6(1), 89-104. 

ISSN: 2474-3542 

 

Local Content in Information Management: The Story of the 

Celebrated Content of the First University Library in Nigeria 

Taiwo Adetoun Akinde 

University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria 

ABSTRACT 

This article expresses the pride of the nationally and internationally patronised and celebrated 

services and resources at the Kenneth Dike Library (KDL), University of Ibadan, the first 

university library in Nigeria. The work outlines the Library’s history from inception to date, 

emphasising the rarity, age, uniqueness and the relevance of its contents in the face of modern and 

emerging information and communications technologies. The contents discussed include print and 

non-print materials (for instance, electronic resources and the institution’s repository), artefacts, 

realia, pictures, drawings, processes, services, capacity, architecture, management and personnel 

deployed in the main and branch libraries of the University of Ibadan Library system. The author 

proffers reasons why the KDL is perceived the best among other university libraries in Nigeria and 

highlighted ten recent “firsts” recorded by the Library which have further enhanced its reputation 

as the first and the best. The work concludes with a call on the private sector and good spirited 

individuals to support the federal government of Nigeria and the University of Ibadan towards 

achieving all the laudable goals of the KDL for now and the future. 

Keywords: Local Content, Information Management, Kenneth Dike Library, University of 
Ibadan, Nigerian University Libraries 

INTRODUCTION 

The University of Ibadan Library is the first university library to be established in Nigeria. It was 

established under the British colonial administration in 1948 at the inception of the University to 

provide, manage, and disseminate quality information resources to support the teaching, learning, 

research and community development activities of the University. The Library operated in a 

prefabricated wooden building at the Eleyele site of the University until 1954 when it moved with 

the University to its permanent site at Oyo Road, Ibadan. The Library was officially commissioned 

on November 17, 1954 (Akinde, Oseghale, & Okoroma, 2018).  

As the University grows in population and in the diversity of its courses, Faculty Deans 

and Department Heads established libraries which they ran outside the control of the main library. 

By the resolution of the University Senate in 1974, however, these faculty libraries and 

departmental reading rooms came under the jurisdiction of the main library in order to ensure a 



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90 

coordinated development of all library resources and services in the University and to effectively 

meet the users’ information needs while ensuring easy, speedy and timely information retrieval 

(Odularu, 2000).  

Presently, there are 27 faculty and departmental libraries. Chief among them is the E. 

Latunde Oladeku Medical Library, situated at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan. 

Notwithstanding, the acquisition, management and sometimes, the cataloguing of resources and 

the recruitment and deployment of personnel to these branch libraries are done centrally at the 

main library where the Office of the University Librarian (and most of the management staff) is 

located. The four-storeyed main library was named Kenneth Dike Library (KDL) in honour of the 

first indigenous Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike, in 1988 (as 

engraved on the Library building). The photographs of the KDL at the beginning and now as shown 

in Figures 1 and 2 below. 

 

Figure 1. The Library in the beginning (at Eleyele) 



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91 

 
 

Figure 2. The KDL now 

 

THE KENNETH DIKE LIBRARY CONTENT: THE STORY OF AGE 

AND UNIQUENESS 

The KDL is the oldest university library in the country. It was fortunate in acquiring at its inception 

a number of substantial book collections, private papers and manuscripts. These include the 

following collections: the 10,000 volume Undergraduate Collection at the Higher College Library, 

Yaba; the Henry Carr Collection of approximatley 18,000 volumes mainly in arts, law, and 

sciences; the F. Montague Dyke Collection of 10,000 books, journals, pamphlets and reprints; the 

Leeds Clergy Library of 1,000 volumes; the Sir Charles Orr Memorial Library of 250 volumes on 

Nigerian history; Sir Herbert Macaulay Library; Cowan and Cocking Collections and Evelyn 

Martin Libraries; the C.M.S Yoruba Mission Library; the miscellaneous collection of 9,000 

volumes given by the British Council and the American Studies Collection; the Library of Madam 

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti; original Arabic manuscripts of local provenance collected from several 

private libraries in West Africa; and more than 10,000 maps on Africa, West Africa and Nigeria 

(The University College, Ibadan, 1955).  

The Library’s Africana Collections showcase works published by Africans, Nigerians 

and/or works written by foreigners about Africa, Nigeria and the University of Ibadan staff 

publications. To enhance access and retrieval of its increasing resource, the Nigeriana Sub-



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collection was moved, of recent, from the Africana Collections in the Reference Section and was 

made to operate as an independent unit. Apart from being made a selective depository of the 

Carnegie Institute of Washington which donated 131 volumes of its publication, the Library was 

the legal depository for all Nigerian publications until 1970. Consequently, under the Publication 

Ordinance of 1950, it received two copies of every work published in Nigeria and it continues to 

receive to date, through the National Library of Nigeria, a complimentary copy of all publications 

produced in the country (Akinde, Oseghale and Okoroma, 2018). Hence, the Publication 

Ordinance Section has been tagged, in-house, as “a library inside the Library.” 

Federal, regional, state, local governments’ and intergovernmental publications (e.g.,UN, 

OAU, ECOWAS, among others) can also be found in the Document Section of the Library. Local 

cultural artefacts, sculptures, art works and realias of great value are preserved and conserved for 

study and research purposes and are kept, for security reasons, in a section of the Office of the 

University Librarian. There are special and rare collections of art works, drawings of reputable 

artists, pictorials of events, buildings, national, local and the University dignitaries from the 

colonial era to present placed in strategic locations in the Library and at the Exhibition Area of the 

Reference Section (as in Figure 3).  

  

 

 

  

Figure 3. Exhibition and the Reading Area of the Reference Section 

The University of Ibadan Library system is one of the largest university libraries in West 

Africa with a collection estimated at well over one million volumes (Ekpenyong, 2005). The 

magnitude and speciality of this collection attracts students from all over the country. The users of 



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93 

this great library include undergraduates, graduate students, academic and non-teaching staff, other 

members of the university community (e.g., UCH senior staff and alumni/alumnae), students and 

staff of other higher learning institutions in and outside the country who are specially introduced 

by their librarian and any researcher with serious reasons for using the library for study and 

reference. In all cases, claims of scholarship and research are always given the first consideration 

(Oladele, 2007).  

As observed by Dow, Meringlo and St. Clair (1995) regarding academic libraries and 

confirmed by Akinde, Oseghale and Okoroma (2018) in KDL, graduate students are heavy users 

of the KDL resources that cover the core areas of their field and the theory of their discipline. 

However, the currency and speciality of materials will depend upon the subject and nature of the 

graduate degree. From the author’s observations of consultations and use of the Library resources 

and services by students and researchers from universities in and out of Nigeria, it can be said that 

the Library stack unique and rare collections that can not be found in any other universities in 

Nigeria and that being the first university library in Nigeria, it sets a good, efficient and effective 

tradition of library services for other academic libraries to follow. Its age remains its advantage as 

observed.  

The Library, which seats about 1,250 users in addition to staff offices and space for the 

collections (University of Ibadan, 2010), has a commercialised bindery for book repair and binding 

graduate students’ dissertations and theses. The KDL opens to users by 8:00am to 9:00pm Monday 

to Friday, 8:00am to 2:00pm on Saturday, and 5:00pm to 9:00pm on Sunday all year, but remains 

closed on national holidays with notices given in advance. Registered users are permitted to borrow 

a predetermined number of books for certain numbers of days (depending on users’ status) at the 

Circulation Desk of the Library during its operational hours (see Figure 4). The General Reading 

Room on the ground floor is open daily when the University is in session and all day long during 

examination period.  

Worthy of note is the traditional drum which is always beaten by the Library Porters at 

intervals, and at least three times, to warn staff and users dispersed on the four floors, extension 

and basement of the imminent closure and to summon or draw their attention during    emergencies. 

This cultural piece is as shown in Figure 5. 

 

Figure 4. Circulation Desk 



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Figure 5. The KDL Call Drum. 

For emergencies and distaster management, fire extinguishers and buckets of sands are 

placed at strategic locations to arrest fire distaster. In addition, food and drink items are not allowed 

in the KDL to prevent insects and mice and the consequent hazards on the majorly paper-based 

library information resources. However, a commercialised Coffee Room was provided for light 

refreshments and entertainment for students, staff, and library visitors. It is regretful to note that 

the Coffee Room, which was sometimes privatised, is presently moribund. The cleaning of the 

Library and its environment is contracted out to the private sector while the clearing of grasses and 

trimming of its surrounding trees are handled by the University’s Works and Maintenance Unit 

and Tree Management Committee. Ramp and elevator provide accessible movement in and around 

the KDL; though, the elevator is presently under maintenance. The Library has an eletrical power 

generating plant installed for electricity back-up. 

On personnel capacity, the KDL has about 30 academic staff with the minimum 

qualification of Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) or related field of study and 

more than 70 other staff (para-professional with a minimum of National Diploma in Library and 

Information Science and support staff with a minimum qualification of five credit passes including 

English and Mathematics in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination). This staff 

capacity has been found to be grossly inadequate and highly stretched because of the need to 

deploy staff to branch libraries to replace those who have retired or resigned from the services of 

the KDL in recent times. However, it is praiseworthy to note that the Library can boast of many 

of its academic staff who have successfully completed doctorate degrees from universities in and 

out of the country, recently.  



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95 

THE KENNETH DIKE LIBRARY CONTENT: THE STORY OF 

RELEVANCY INSPITE OF AGE 

To address the global paradigm shift from print resources to electronic-based information 

resources, the KDL has subscribed to a number of electronic journals, databases and databanks 

which users can access for free, with or without library-provided passwords while on campus and 

off campus via the library webpage on the University of Ibadan website or the publishers’ websites. 

Furthermore, a task force was convened in the 2009/2010 academic session to automate library 

operations and especially, the card catalogue with the deployment of Virtua, an integrated web-

based library management software, supplied by the VTLS Incorporated, the United States of 

America and later in 2015/2016 with an indigenous, proprietary software made for the KDL named 

UI-ALA by Mr. A. Babarinde, a Nigerian computer scientist. As soon as the new software is fully 

deployed, the KDL Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) will be hosted on the Internet to 

enable access to the bibliographic details of its resources, circulation and reference services from 

anywhere in the world. Presently, the OPAC is accessible to users within the Library (the OPAC 

is as shown in Figure 6 below). 

 

 
 

Figure 6. The KDL OPAC 

 

The Digitisation Chamber, another recent innovation which replaced the moribund 

Microfilm/Microfiche Unit, was created for the conversion of manuscripts and rare collections into 

machine-readable format to conserve and preserve African and/or Nigerian literary heritage, 

provide multiple electronic access to rare, fragile and/or aged, important and not-easy-to-replace 

print resources, and enhance the visibility of faculty research/intellectual output via the University 

of Ibadan Institutional Repository and the virtual library housed in the KDL. As the Repository is 

being populated with the University of Ibadan collective research works, faculty members are 



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96 

enjoined to submit their research publications to the Library through their Department Heads in 

order not to be left behind. Furthermore, a computer laboratory (e-resources Unit) which housed 

100 internet-ready computers, scanners and network printers has been provided for student and 

staff to search and retrieve literature and print at affordable prices. A view of  one of the processes 

in the Digitisation Chamber and the Computer Laboratory are shown in Figures 7 and 8 below. 

 

 

Figure 7. One of the processes in the KDL Digitisation Chamber 

 

 

Figure 8. The Computer Laboratory (for e-resources search and retrieval) 



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97 

In addition, reprographic services are provided via commercial photocopying and 

document delivery to prevent theft, mutilation of print materials and other library crimes 

perpetrated as a result of insufficient access and inadequate resources. However, the fair use policy 

of the Library informes users on the number of pages they are allowed to duplicate. The KDL also 

housed an e-classroom, an electronic learning facility with an electronic board, a multimedia 

projector and modern computers for interactive Library Staff Seminars and other hands-on IT 

trainings. The e-classroom could also be leased for postgraduate lectures and seminar/conferences 

organised by persons in and out of the University on approval and at a fee. The computers in the 

e-classroom were recently changed to modern PCs that combines the Central Processing Units 

(CPU) with the Monitors (the photograph of the Seminar Room/e-classroom before and now is as 

shown in Figures 9 and 10).  

 
Figure 9. Seminar Room /e-classroom (Before)  

 

 
 

Figure 10. Seminar Room /e-classroom (Now) 



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Moreover, Carrels (individual study rooms) are provided for senior staff, researchers and 

postgraduate students for private study on a first-come, first-served basis. For record and 

aesthetic purposes, Halls of Fame (for example, Figure 11) for past vice chancellors and 

university librarians were placed stragetically on the walls by the flight of stairs to the first and 

second floors of the Library for general information, education and admiration. Furthermore, 

artificial flowers in beautiful vases, gold plated guides and solid glass doors grace the Library 

(see Figure 12). 

 

Figure 11. Hall of Fame for the VCs 

 

Figure 12. The Circulation Section Approach 



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99 

THE KENNETH DIKE LIBRARY CONTENT: ON BEING THE FIRST 

AND THE BEST 

The Kenneth Dike Library, apart from being the first university library in Nigeria, has indeed 

recorded some firsts in recent time, which are listed as follows: 

1. The 24/7 library service, especially during examination periods, is the first of such in any 
Nigerian university library; 

 

2. The recent publication of the University of Ibadan Journal of Library and Information 
Science by Emerald, a leading international publisher of repute. This is the first of its kind 

by a university library in Nigeria. There are plans to publish three issues in one volume 

annually. The Journal is presently in its third volume; 

 

3. In-house trainings for the library senior staff  to develop the capacity of its senior personnel 
towards better service ethics, delivery and feedback. Library Senior Staff Seasonal 

Training has been initiated by the reconvened Research and Development Committee to 

expose library senior staff to best professional practices. Resource persons with necessary 

and relevant expertise are being invited from within and outside the University; 

 

4. Efforts at training the university academic community. Apart from using its website and 
social media to create awareness of new accessions and promote the use of library 

resources, the Library moved a step further in training some faculty members in available 

electronic resources, information and digital literacies, literature search and retrieval skills, 

citation and references management and plagiarism awareness and detection, to encourage 

an informed, productive and visible faculty; 

 

5. Aside the indigenous UI-ALA proprietary library management software earlier stated, a 
library software has been developed locally in the KDL. This software will soon be 

deployed to manage the bibliographic information and contents of students’ projects and 

dissertations which are almost becoming a nuisance and threat to the library environment 

because of the usual space constraint as a result of the increase in student enrollment 

without a commensurate building expansion. The last extension to the KDL is the 

Postgraduate/Research Library which was added more than three decades ago;   

 

6. An easily accessible and fully air-conditioned Chat Room with a plasma flat screen 
television and easy chairs and tables, one of its kind in the South West, Nigeria, has been 

recently provided at the middle of the first floor of the KDL for patrons’ academic 

discussions, leisure and socialisation; 

 

7. A sub-unit within the Systems Unit was recently created with the mandate of monitoring 
and harnessing emerging technologies to keep the KDL a step ahead in training its staff on 

how to deploy relevant information and telecommunications technologies for library 

resource and service management; 

 



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100 

8. An active library website, served by inverter-powered 24/7 servers located in the System 
Unit with staff trained to offer online user support services, is another recent development. 

Other units of the Library, such as Reference and Cataloguing, are also provided with 

inverters as an alternative power source for effective and sustainable service delivery; 

 

9. For an inclusive library service, the Library has recently acquired an electronic braille set 
for visually impaired patrons. This will be available as soon as the library staff are trained 

in its use, operations and management; 

    The library, with the support of the university administration, has recently renovated the 

old but solid library building in order to preserve the architectural heritage of the KDL which has 

attracted both national and international attention based on the number and nature of requests daily 

received from local and international institutions and individuals for research/study visits, tours, 

internship and volunteering. Most of the library visitors always leave with pictures of the KDL 

structure and copies of its celebrated contents for further study and treasure! 

The KDL has been perceived as the best university library in Nigeria as a result of its rare, 

aged, unique, and relevant contents, the appreciable national and international patronage and these 

ten pacesetting firsts highlighted above, among others. However, the ten firsts would not have been 

achieved without the support of the University of Ibadan Management and the able administration 

of the fifth substantive university librarian, Dr. B.A. Oladele, the two-term university librarian 

between 2006 to 2016; the sixth substantive and present university librarian, Dr. Helen Komolafe-

Opadeji, the university librarian from 2016 to date; the esteemed members of their management 

teams (including the Deputy University Librarians: Mr. S. Akinyode, Mr. C.O. Ola, Dr. Josephine 

Igbeka, Dr. Beatrice Fabunmi and other senior staff members such as Mrs. Bolarinwa Adeyemi) 

and the ever-committed library staff members.  

Nonetheless, the author humbly acknowledges past substanstive university libraians (Prof. 

W. J. Harris,1948 – 1968; Mrs. T. Olabisi Odeinde, 1972 – 1987; Mrs. Olufunmilayo G. Tamuno, 

1988 – 1998 and Late Mr. Ikem, 1999- 2003), past acting university librarians (Late Mr. S.S.A. 

Odularu and Dr. Mrs. Georgina D. Ekpenyong) and their teams who laboured to lay the foundation 

that the present management and staff are building upon. We are committed to ensuring that the 

labours of our past heroes shall never be in vain!  

Displayed below (Figures 13-18) are the photographs of all the substantive university 

librarians in their academic gowns as principal officers of the University of Ibadan. 

 

Figure 13. The 1st substantive University Librarian (UL) 



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101 

 

Figure 14. The 2nd substantive UL 

 

 

 

Figure 15. The 3rd substantive UL 

 

Figure 16. The 4th substantive UL 



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102 

 

 

 

Figure 17. The 5th substantive UL 

 

 

 

Figure 18. The 6th substantive and present UL (2016 - ) 

 

 

CONCLUSION 

In sum, the University of Ibadan’s history of educational exploits can not be told without 

mentioning the contributions of the KDL in providing information resources for staff and students 

to support its teaching, learning, research and community service mandates. Therefore, the Library 

ought to be celebrated as the titanic literary and cultural repository which has adequately and 

sufficiently assisted the University of Ibandan to fulfill these mandates in its more than 70 years 

of existence and 66 years of producing university graduates.  



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103 

Thus, in this spirit of celebration, the cooperation and support of all is solicited and 

anticipated towards achieving all the laudable goals of the KDL for now and the future. An instance 

of the area where the Library needs support is in the acquisition of a luxurious bus to convey staff 

on evening and night duties to and from bus-stops proximate to their homes (because of the hazards 

associated with staff movements at these unholy hours) and to aid staff members in attending 

training and social events organised outside Ibadan with ease.  

Furthermore, to offer a sustainable library service and support the lean accomodation 

provided by the University Housing Committee, private/public partnerships could also be useful 

in building a housing unit that will be dedicated to library staff who may wish to stay overnight 

(when duty calls) or live on the University Campus at little or no cost. A philantropist recently 

donated some resources and gave the Reference Section of the KDL a facelift, which demontrates 

a lasting support and kind guestures for the Library. 

References 

Akinde, T. A., Oseghale, O., & Okoroma, F. N. (2018). The Kenneth Dike Library users in  

historical perspectives: A statistical study of use and users’ behaviour over time. In B. A. 

Oladele & C. O. Ola (Eds.), Ibadan University Library System: The journey 

continues…(Pp.51-64). Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press.  

Dow, R., Meringlo, S., & St. Clair, G. (1995). Academic collections in a changing environment. 

In G. B. McCabe & R. Person (Eds.), Academic libraries: Their rationale and role in 

America higher education (Pp. 101-123). Connecticut: Greenwood Press.  

Ekpenyong, G. D. (2005). University of Ibadan Library System: A guide. Kenneth Dike Library. 

Ibadan: UI.  

Odularu, S. S. A. (2000). Fifty years of library services at the University of Ibadan (1948-1998). 

In B.A.Mojuetan (Eds.), Ibadan at fifty (1948-1998): Nigeria’s premier university in 

perspective (Pp.184-199). Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. 

Oladele, B. A. (2007). Foreword. University of Ibadan Library System: A guide. Kenneth Dike 

Library. Ibadan: UI.  

The University College, Ibadan. (1955). The University College, Ibadan Report for 1948 to 1953. 

Ibadan: UCI. 

University of Ibadan. (2010). University of Ibadan Calendar 2008-2012. Ibadan: UI. 

 

About the author 

Dr. Taiwo Adetoun Akinde was engaged as Librarian II by the Kenneth Dike Library, University 

of Ibadan in 2008 and has risen to the position of Principal Librarian. A Cataloguer between 

August, 2001 and January, 2016; she was certified as a Chartered Librarian by the Librarians 

Registration Council of Nigeria in 2011 and a Member of the Nigerian Library Association (NLA) 

since 2001. She has authored and/or co-authored books and articles published in refereed, peer-

reviewed local and international Journals. Her area of research interests is in the application of 

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to teaching, learning and research; library 



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104 

automation; indigenous knowledge/local content collection, digitization and dissemination; book 

publishing and continuing professional education. Dr. Akinde, who was appointed the Faculty 

Librarian of the Faculty of Education, University of Ibadan on the 19th of January, 2016, obtained 

a Ph. D degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Ibadan in 2017. An 

editor, blogger and seasoned Christian counsellor, she is the author of the books “Marriage: 

foundation, expectations and realities” and “What to consider before marriage: A Christian 

perspective.” 


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