LIBRARY SKILLS

What is library?
1. A library is a collection of well documented books, journals, newspapers and other forms
of information that is printed and none printed. A university student is required to be self-
reliant .Your desire for knowledge cannot be satisfied by your teachers alone, the teachers cannot
have all the answers to the questions you have, therefore the student has to do a lot of searching,
the searching will take the form of debating with people, observing what exists in the world and
finding what others have done or written. You therefore need to learn how to use the library.
2. A library is a collection of selected information resources which
are organized and preserved for reading, studying and consultation.

A) Selected: most university libraries select their materials using internationally accepted
principles of selection and correct selection tools. All materials acquired through gifts and
donations should be selected and only relevant and useful ones are put on the shelves.
B) Organized: it is only possible to use the collection in the library if it is properly organized.
Materials are organized by means of classifying and cataloguing, by classifying, library materials
are grouped together according to subject similarity and it is assigned a call number that enables
users locate materials. By cataloguing, the users are informed of what is available in the library
stock.
C) Preserved: preservation is the maintenance of library materials in their original condition
through retention and proper care. If materials are damaged, they can be preserved through
restoration (this is the procedure that improves the condition of damaged objects and the attempt
to reclaim it as close as possible to original condition. )
D) Reading , studying and consultation: library materials are meant for leisure reading e.g.
recreational, for study e.g. textbooks, for consultation e.g. reference materials

Importance Of Teaching Library Skills

1.) Most of the students in Kenya have not had an opportunity to use well organized libraries.
This is because at both primary and secondary levels in Kenya, libraries hardly exist and where
they exist they are poorly organized with a small collection of materials. Therefore students
joining universities need to be taught information handling skills which will help them not only
to maximize the use of their respective libraries but also to enable them to make use of any other
library other than university library.
2.) Currently more emphasis is put on student-oriented learning where the lecturer’s role is to
provide skeleton notes and the students required to fill notes through information acquired in the
library. Therefore, the students need to acquire some library skills in order to use the resources
effectively.
3.) The growth of seminar and tutorial teaching especially in project work in undergraduate
courses has provided the need for the use of the library

Aims Of A Library

1.) To store a wide range of academic materials in order to facilitate independent academic
pursuit by both students and staff
2.) To foster and create interest among students and staff to interact with the material
available in the library.
3.) To assist students to become more effective in independent research and locating
appropriate materials for various tasks
4.) To encourage students and staff to explore new things as well as learn more of the
familiar ones.

Types Of Libraries

There are at least five types of libraries in Kenya

1.) National library
2.) Public
3.) Academic
4.) Private
5.) Special
 1. Public Libraries

These are libraries provided from the public funds through the local authority or the ministry of
local government. The use of any of these libraries is not restricted to any class of persons. They
are freely available to all the members of the public.
Functions of a public library
1.) They promote reading among grownups, adolescents, children, youth etc. regardless of age.
It’s expected to encourage continuing education.
2.) It provides a wide range of loan services based on systems of individual libraries i.e., you can
borrow reading materials from them.
3.) They strive to serve the whole community by:
a) being supplemented by mobile and traveling libraries
b) providing special facilities for special categories of people e.g. the old
c) they organize provision of services for hospitals and jails and other disadvantaged groups of
people in the society
This means that public libraries built up their collection that relate to the interests of the local
community. Public libraries generally consider their role to be more than passive lending of
materials to those who walk in. Many public libraries provide other facilities like;
I. meeting rooms for community groups
II. they sponsor lectures and other forums to show educational motion pictures
III. they actively participate in adult education programmes
The ideal public library should provide access to knowledge for all people in the country or
community regardless of race, creed, color, tribe etc.

2. National Libraries

Also called a reference library. Usually, books in such libraries are for reference only. The
reference library is a copyright library since its main function is to collect and preserve books,
periodicals, newspapers published in the country for posterity or prosperity. This is achieved
through a law requiring publishers to deposit copies of all publications issued by them and by
purchasing books published in other countries. A copyright act has a penalty clause to enforce
this law.

3. SPECIAL LIBRARIES
They contain a collection of books and other materials dealing with a limited field of
knowledge which are provided by a learned society, research organizations, industrial or
commercial undertakings, government departments or educational institutions. It may
also be a special branch of a public library serving certain interests or occupational
groups e.g. a technical library or subject library which meets the needs of users in a given
subject area e.g. KEMRI- medical UNEP- environmental KARI- agricultural A special
library is intended to serve the needs of specific users who require detailed information in
a limited subject area. Users usually require up- to- date information promptly and their
requests may be for information rather than for a book or journal etc. They are
established to meet highly specialized requirements of professionals and businesses;
therefore they are usually attached to official institutions and government departments. A
library may be considered special in a variety of ways i. by the types of users e.g. a
special category of people like  research scientists  prisoners  physically challenged
 children  the old  the sick ii. by the subject Are library which stock resources on a
particular subject like;  medical  environment  agriculture
University library has rules and regulations which are intended To guide students in knowing the
accepted and expected Behavior while using both library resources and facilities.
Inter Library Lending Services & Referral Services. A library in the university links with
other libraries. This makes The students and lecturers aware of other libraries and enables Them
to have access to the information in these libraries Through inter-library lending and library
cooperation.
Recreation: A part from providing resources and facilities for education the university library
also offers resources for recreation such as novels and magazines for leisure reading. The library
can also offer facilities to foster personal interest and hobbies by providing information on study.
Short-loan Services: The library puts in the reserve collection books which are in high demand
and yet the library has only very few copies. Books in this collection are loaned out only for one
hour. Also within this collection are lecture notes, past examination papers etc.
Reservation Services: Students are allowed to reserve books which they know the library has,
but which for one reason or the other are not on the shelves (mainly because they have been
borrowed). Students reserving books should fill reservation forms at the issue counter to ensure
that when books is returned it is kept for them and not put on the open shelves for any other user
to pick. Once the book is returned the student who made the reservation is notified and asked to
come and collect the item. If the item is not collected within the indicated dates, the reservation
is cancelled.
Other usefulness of a library include offering equal Opportunities to all students and lecturers
without discrimination is services offered as well as offering opportunity for socialization and
enhancement of cultural values.
General Year Book: Some general yearbooks updates & the information covered by the general
encyclopedias and are published as annual supplements.
Other yearbooks rather general in scope but are not supplements to encyclopedias and not
necessarily limited to the developments of a single year.
General yearbooks include such titles are Compton yearbook, Readers Digest Almanac, the
Europe yearbook, Guinness Book of Records. The yearbook of World Affairs. The information
given in these sources are factual, statistical and quite recent. The coverage is international and
all subjects are dealt with.
Special Year Books:
The specific or special yearbooks deal with specific field of knowledge or issues of a given
country. Special year books include such titles as Yearbooks of the United Nations; this source
provides an annual concise account of the United Nations work and its effect on almost all
human activities. “The writers and artists book” on the other hand is a directory of writers only in
all fields of knowledge. “The statements yearbook” is a statistical and historical annual of the
state of world. “The Kenya Foot book, for executers” is a national yearbook which provides
some information such as on economy, banking, and finance in Kenya.
Almanacs Almanacs are annual publications, containing a variety of useful facts of a
miscellaneous nature and statistical information. Information found here includes information on
nations of the world, names of universities, flags of the countries of the world, accidents and
deaths. Some of the almanacs include “Whitakers Almanac” and “Almanac of famous people”.
Handbooks and Manuals:
These are reference instructional books providing essentials data and directories on a particular
subject on how to carry out certain operations. They are meant to assist and guide professionals
and practitioners in performing their jobs. Some titles found under this heading are: handbook of
chemistry and physics, chemicals Engineers Handbook, Riegel’s handbook of industrial
chemistry, structural engineering handbook, metals handbook and handbook of contemporary of
developments in work

Sections Of A Library

1.) short loan (reserve) section

2.) the lending section (general circulation)
3.) reference sections
4.) information technology
5.) national collection (Africana)
6.) loose periodical section
7.) bound periodical section
8.) bibliographic section
9.) children section
10.) Inter-library loaning section
Short loan (reserve section) This section contains books and other materials that are in short
supply but high on demand. The books can only be borrowed for a short period of time like one
or two hours and cannot be taken out of the library before closing hours. Such books are
borrowed over night when the library is closing and should be returned the following morning
during opening.
The lending section It contains all the books that can be borrowed for a given period of time to
be read outside or inside the library. You can also pick the books from the shelves and afterwards
you are supposed to leave it on the reading desk.
Reference section It contains books and materials meant for reference e.g. encyclopedia, maps,
dictionaries, surveys, handbooks. They must be read within the reference section and be left on
the reading table. Information Technology section It has three sub-sections: a) Audio-visual b)
Computer sections E.g. flash disks, diskettes etc. c) Reprographic sections E.g. photocopying and
binding section
National collection (Africana section) It contains a collection of works done within the country.
It contains thesis, dissertations and other special publications mainly used by lecturers and post-
graduate students for their research.
Loose periodical section It contains daily newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines or
journals. These materials are usually read within the library and returned after use.
Bound periodical section It contains materials like magazines, newspapers of past months or
years that are bound together and placed on specific shelves.
Bibliographic section This section deals with cards and catalogues that are used for locating
books within the library.
Children section This section contains books and other materials meant for children e.g.
children stories, cartoons, comedies, DVDs that have materials for children.
Inter-library loaning section It deals with lending and loaning books from other libraries.