CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Of The Study
Different libraries exist for different purposes. These purposes include function, type of users and the reason for establishing the library. These account for the major differences in libraries. Okiy in Tinuoye (2010) asserted that the main reason libraries exist is to provide the right materials to meet the information needs of their users. The type of users who make use of a library; the kind of services rendered by it; the type of collection it has and the general intention of those who established the library clearly distinguish one type of library from the other. The types of library include: the national, public, school, academic, private and special libraries.
National libraries are regarded as the apex libraries in a country. Uwaifo (2010) acknowledged that national libraries are established and maintained by the national governments of countries. They serve as the preeminent repository of information for that country. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous, rare, valuable or significant works.
National libraries are responsible for acquiring and conserving copies of all significant publications published in the country and functioning as a `deposit' library, either by law or under other arrangements. They will also normally perform some of the following functions: produce a national bibliography; hold and keep up to date a large and representative collection of foreign literature including books about the country; act as a national bibliographical information center; compile union catalogues; publish the retrospective national bibliography. Libraries which may be called `national' but whose functions do not correspond to the above definition should not be placed in the `national libraries' category(UNESCO 1970). In addition, National libraries functionalities are guided by the instrument regarded as the legal deposit law.
Specifically, the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) Decree No. 29 of 1970 stipulates in Section 4(1) that the publisher of every book published in Nigeria shall within one month after the publication deliver at his own expense to the National Library, three (3) copies of the book for permanent preservation and one of which shall be sent by the Director to the Ibadan University library. This is called legal deposit Law. It is given as instrument to the National Library authorizing it to collect these indigenous materials.
Legal deposit materials, therefore, are those acquired by law by some libraries for permanent preservation, proper processing and dissemination to the public. These materials are mostly indigenous and they emanate from authors and publishers within a geographical area.Some libraries are designated by law to receive and preserve these materials. Edoka(2000).These libraries are called depository libraries. Legal deposit according to Prytherch (1995) is a method whereby certain libraries are entitled by law to receive one or more copies of every publication which is printed or published in the country. These depository libraries are mostly federal academic institution, public libraries and national libraries.
The National Library of Nigeria is established by law to carry out the functions of legal depository. It is the library of libraries. It serves as the national information bank as rare, valuable, and all published work are preserved in it. According to Adewunmi (2008), the objectives of the National Library of Nigeria Decree include: (a) The provision of necessary support for intellectual efforts in all activities directed at progress and development. (b) Ensuring a free flow of knowledge between this nation and others, thereby securing a place for the nation in the community of nations that depend on recorded knowledge and information for survival in a world of rapid advancement and competition of ideas. (c) Ensuring availability of comprehensive and as near complete a collection of resource as possible, materials in existing knowledge in the world and ensuring full access to such resources both within and outside the nation’s boundaries.
These legal deposit materials are indigenous materials published within the country and those published about the country outside the country. They are of different types. They include printed materials while access to the password is given to the National Library by the publishers into the digital or electronic copies .They are lawfully acquired free of charge from publishers and authors of any intellectual work. The materials include books, magazines, journals, films, newspapers, government publications, oral recordings or documentaries etc .Arua (1997) and Owen (2007) posited that books, journals, newspapers, government publications are collected and preserved for posterity through the legal deposit. These materials could be literary, collective, distinct or documentary work. . These legal deposit materials are of immense value to the country due to the type of information they contain. Ifidon and Ifidon (2007) opined that they are useful for research. They are also important in the bibliographic control of publications both nationally and internationally. This is achieved through the publication of the National Bibliography of Nigeria (NBN) by the National Library of Nigeria. According to the decree establishing the National Library of Nigeria, it is the giant memory of the nation. In line with this, the Legal deposit materials help in retrospective searches by users as a lot of these materials are rare and old .They are used as reference materials in court subpoena in the case of litigation, authentication and certification in government offices.