Alternative sources of funding Nigerian university libraries
| Date | 01 May 1996 |
| Published date | 01 May 1996 |
| Pages | 13-21 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129610112752 |
| Author | Innocent I. Ekoja |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Introduction and literature review
Although libraries generally seek to augment
their regular income through alternative
funding, the pursuit of such sources of fund-
ing assumed aggressive proportions only
recently. For a long time there has also been
the debate as to whether libraries, especially
those which are publicly funded, should
charge money for their fringe or peripheral
services. Those which argue against any form
of fee-based services do so on the grounds
that such services in publicly-funded libraries
negate the philosophy of such libraries. As for
those which support some form of fee-based
services, their stand is anchored on the fact
that since public funding cannot meet the
totality of the financial requirements of
libraries there is the need to source alterna-
tive/additional incomes to meet at least part of
the shortfall.
In spite of the impressive arguments of
those for and against some form of fee-based
services in publicly-funded libraries, the
former increasingly are winning the debate
because of obvious reasons. Many
compounding variables have made it expedi-
ent for libraries around the world to look
outside their traditional sources of funding in
order to raise additional funds to be able to
sustain the level of services which, hitherto,
normal funding was able take care of.
Lynden[1], although writing with reference to
the USA, ably captures the world situation
with the statement that “…with rising materi-
al costs, a recession underway, the dollar
eroding in value, government funding in peril,
and university budgets becoming more con-
stricted, it is increasingly necessary for
libraries to be creative in fund-raising”.
Anderson[2] notes that publicly supported
university libraries in the USA and Canada
have, since the mid-1980s, stepped up efforts
to generate additional funds to add to their
normal budgets because the level of support
for them has continued to dwindle. She cited,
as a specific example, state support for the
University of Illinois which had shrunk from
54 to 37 per cent within five years.
Just as in the USA, where the importance
of alternative sources of funding has led to the
preparation of a document by the Library
Association[3] to guide libraries on fundraising
13
Library Management
Volume 17 · Number 3 · 1996 · pp. 13–21
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0143-5124
Alternative sources of
funding Nigerian
university libraries
Innocent I. Ekoja
The author
Innocent I. Ekoja is Senior Librarian, Abubakar Tafawa
Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.
Abstract
Presents a descriptive/survey research using a question-
naire and official records to investigate alternative sources
of generating income in Nigerian university libraries. The
sales made are of duplicate journals and back issues of
newspapers while commercial services identified are
photocopying, publishing, registration of users and
binding. Other sources of income are fines, charges, gifts,
grants, endowments, bequests and adopt-a-journal. The
range of total percentage of alternative income in relation
to total library allocations is between 0.7 and 39.2 per cent
but on average it is a minimum of 5.4 per cent and maxi-
mum of 17.6 per cent. Book gifts by foreign donors are
greater than those from Nigerians, and when quantified in
monetary terms bring in far more funds than any other
means of alternative income.
The author would like to thank Mohammed Lawal
who assisted in the production of the manuscript.
To continue reading
Request your trial