Introduction
Libraries in general and public libraries in particular, play an important role in all aspects of societal development especially when viewed against its users, which consist of all categories of people in the society. Public library has been defined variously. Many see it as a place built for the collection of books and other printed resources and the personnel to provide and interpret such resources as required to meet the information, research, educational, recreational, cultural and aesthetic needs of the varied users and it is usually financed with public funds. In line with the above, Gates (1976) defined a public library as “that authorized by law, supported from general public funds or special taxes voted for the purpose of administration, for the benefit of the citizens of the country, town, city or region which maintains it on the basis of equal access to all.” The idea of a public library system in Northern Nigeria started in the late 1940s with the Native Authority (N.A.) Reading Rooms. Prior to this period however, a collection of Islamic scriptures and manuscripts can be found with individual clerics scattered across the Region especially in Sokoto, Borno and Kano which are regarded as centers of commerce and Islamic civilization as a result of their contact with the Arab world through the Trans-Saharan Trade Routes. (Aguolu 1984). These “libraries” lacked all that can be said of a public library in terms of policies, organization, personnel and services.
The first significant attention to public library was the commissioning of a study on library services in the region in 1963, by the government of the Northern Region under the distinguished leadership of the late Premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello. The study was conducted by F. A. Sharr under the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Plan and the report popularly known in the