By Eke Kingsley Chinedu
The National Library of Nigeria (NLN) has grown from a simple repository of books into a dynamic institution that drives literacy, education, research, cultural preservation, and equitable access to knowledge. Founded in the years following independence, it set out to gather and protect Nigeria’s literary and scholarly heritage. Over time it has become a national force for learning and innovation.
From the start, NLN understood that a reading culture is built through people, not just collections. Its mobile library services, community reading clubs, and partnerships with schools—especially in rural areas—have encouraged children and adults to embrace reading as part of daily life. Researchers and students depend on its ever-expanding archives, reference materials, and digitised resources for work in science, technology, and the humanities. Rare manuscripts, newspapers, and oral histories are carefully preserved so that the voices of Nigeria’s many cultures endure.
The library’s investment in professional training has deepened its impact. In recent years it has sponsored over a hundred staff members for advanced education, recruited new professionals, and upgraded facilities to keep pace with modern information management. A landmark achievement came with the full accreditation of the Centre for Advanced Library and Information Management (CALIM) by the National Board for Technical Education. CALIM, established in 1993 and formally registered in 2020, had received provisional approval in 2021 and began diploma programmes in the 2022/2023 session. After meeting all standards, it secured full accreditation in 2025, a milestone that places formal library and information science education firmly under NLN’s umbrella and strengthens professional training across the country.
Alongside this academic role, NLN continues to digitise rare materials and expand online catalogues so that students in remote areas can access the same resources as those in major cities. It also serves as a JAMB computer-based testing centre, widening opportunities for prospective students.
Challenges remain: steady funding, wider regional branches, and keeping pace with rapid digital change are ongoing concerns. Yet NLN’s progress shows how a nation’s strength rests not only on natural resources but on the knowledge and culture it preserves and shares. The accreditation of CALIM highlights how far the institution has come and how central it remains to Nigeria’s educational and cultural future.