Corporate social responsibility activities for public libraries engagement towards the actualization of sustainable development goals (SDGs): a survey of public libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria

Purpose: The study is on corporate social responsibility activities for public libraries engagement towards the actualization of sustainable development goals (SDGs): a survey of public libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: The survey design was adopted. Data were gathered through questionnaire. Population of study comprised of librarians working in the public libraries in south-east and south-south Nigeria. A total of 77 questionnaires were retrieved and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings: The corporate social responsibilities that public libraries should participate in order to end poverty in present-day society include dissemination of timely agricultural information, business information, economic information services that are target-specific in different areas; provision of relevant information source and conducive environment for research to end hunger and achieved food security; partnership with health workers, stakeholders in the health sector and media houses to ensure optimal dissemination of health information to rural dwellers and promoting equitable quality education are the corporate social responsibility activities that public libraries should participate to contribute to actualization of sustainable development goals. Practical Implication: Library management should take pragmatic steps towards ensuring that there is intensive awareness campaign on various programmes and initiatives that libraries can participate towards contributing to actualization of sustainable development goals. Originality/value: This paper is of value to librarianship as a profession, it should provoke a new line of discourse in library professional or association meetings

The role of library and information professionals in the provision of financial literacy in developing countries

The paper focused on the role of library and information professionals in the provision of financial literacy in developing countries. The highlights of the paper are explanation of financial literacy as a concept, necessity for financial literacy in a depressed economy, role of libraries in the provision of financial literacy in developing countries. The strategies that can be adopted for effective provision of financial literacy were identified which include collaboration with financial institutions; establishing synergy between library and information professionals and successful entrepreneurs, exploring grass root options; collaboration with non-governmental agencies and use of social media platforms. The challenges acknowledged include inadequate knowledge of the workings of the financial system, inadequate knowledge of the financial information needs of patrons and members of the host communities. The study recommends introduction of financial management courses to library science education curriculum, requesting for adequate financial support amongst others

Managing smart campus and smart libraries: a look at challenges and the way forward for libraries in developing countries

The paper focused on the challenges faced in creating and managing smart libraries in developing countries. The highlight of the paper are an overview of smart campuses and smart libraries; the justification for smart campuses and smart libraries. The key points for driving a smart campus and smart libraries include deep understanding of smart technological architecture; availability of smart devices and availability of smart platforms; The related technologies for smart libraries in smart campus include but not limited to cloud computing, radio frequency identification (RFID), mobile technology applications, internet of things (IoT) and wireless technology. Several challenges were identified such as unavailability of digital infrastructure, low level of partnership drive, lack of ict skills among library and information science professionals, high cost of maintenance and shortage of smart librarians. Provision of digital infrastructures, engaging in sustainable partnership initiatives, training and re-training of library and information science professionals, organizing of in-house training for library and information science professionals, recruitment of smart librarians, adequate funding were recommended. Keywords: Smart libraries, smart campuses, developing countries, librarie

Challenges to full implementation of open distance and flexible learning in Nigerian tertiary institutions

This paper focused on the challenges to full implementation of open distance and flexible learning in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The conceptual clarification of distance education, open distance learning was presented; the justifications for ODFL programmes in developing countries were highlighted. The expected role of libraries towards the sustainability of ODFL programmes include provision of technology-based information services, organization and provision of online information resources, provision of digital information literacy; the challenges to implementation of ODFL programmes in tertiary institutions in developing countries such as dearth of well-defined national distance education policies, dearth of trained cadre of professionals to support the implementation of distance education; technological constraints, dearth of collaborative partners, low level of funding in Nigerian institution and erratic power supply were well articulated. Strategies like adequate funding, recruitment of quality staff, engaging in sustainable collaborative effort, re-training of librarians and compliance with quality assurance principles

Strategies for effective communication towards information services delivery for sustainable development in post Covid-19 pandemic era

Communication is an integral component of human existence. This discourse focused on the strategies for effective communication in information services delivery for sustainable development in post Covid-19 pandemic era. The highlight of the paper are state of communication among people dwelling in rural areas, rationalization for effective communication system for sustainable rural development, defining the scopes of communication in development which include development communication, health communication, agricultural communication, traditional communication and business communication. The use of mass media in communication and information service delivery for rural development, challenges to effective communication of information for rural development in post Covid-19 era and strategies for effective communication in information services delivery to rural dwellers were well articulated in the paper

Revolutionary changes in librarianship and the need for strategic planning for sustainable transformation of academic libraries

The paper is focused on the revolutionary changes in librarianship and the need for strategic planning for sustainable transformation of academic libraries. The narrative content analysis was adopted with extensive literature review. Explanations on basic concepts relating to the subject matter such as change, types of changes, strategic planning, and purpose of strategic planning, strategic planning process, and strategic management process were articulated. The paper further explores strategic planning in the context of librarianship; the rationalization for strategic planning in academic libraries; justification for effective adaptation to changes in academic libraries as well as identification of specific dimension of revolutionary changes in academic libraries; the key points for sustainable strategic planning were outlined