INTRODUCTION

As a new student you will soon discover that all lecture and tutorial contacts with the teaching staff result in you spending most of the time in the library. You will be preparing for tutorials, reading references given during lectures, or researching for essays. An important feature of university education is that far less time is occupied by group involvement with staff, which is normal in secondary schools. The emphasis in a university set-up is upon personal commitment and effort. Your lecturers will not spend their precious time chasing you for lectures, essays, attendance and diligent performance. Consequently, these responsibilities rest primarily with you. Hence, the task of discovering how the library is arranged and how to use its stocks effectively and efficiently rests on you.

The purpose of this guide is therefore, to provide you with basic information about the library, its collections, how they are organized, administered and most importantly, how it should be used. Note that the library will remain your reference source throughout the period of your study.

Brief History of the Library

The Federal University of Technology, Yola was established by law in 1981, as one of the Seven Federal Universities of Technology, which were brought about by the change in education policy towards technological self-reliance. The Library began in a temporary building up to 3rd October, 1990 when the present library building was completed and commissioned. The physical building is capable of accommodating 50,000 volumes of books; 100 titles of journals, 750 readers and 50 staff. The library suffered from the lack of early appointment of a University Librarian until the first University Librarian, Dr. (Mrs.) Victoria W. Udoh assumed duty in February 1992. The second University Librarian, Professor Benki S. H. Womboh assumed duty on 1st September, 2002 while the present University Librarian Dr. Tukur Abba (CLN), who assumed duty on 28th November, 2013. The total staff strength in 2007 stood at 36, comprising 6 (six) academic, 17 (seventeen) senior non-academic librarians 16 (sixteen) junior; total Chartered Professional Librarians (Academic Librarians) and 31 supporting staff. Currently, the library has a stock of 35,524 volumes of books and subscribes to 2,677 titles of foreign and many local journals.

Mission and Vision

The University Library is committed to the provision of quality library and information resources and services in support of the teaching, learning, research and creative work in the university. This is achieved through the liberalization and democratization of access to recorded knowledge in print and electronic formats as well as on the Internet with a strong drive towards library Automation.

Goals of MAUTECH Library

These goals, which are tied to the mission of the Library, are to:

Liberalize and democratize access to recorded knowledge both in print and electronic formats as well as on the Internet.
Ensure that books find their readers and vice versa. In other words, to provide the right book to the right reader at the right time.
Keep the resources up-to-date and adequate in terms of quantity and quality
Achieve equitable circulation and dissemination of the resources through short term (Books on reserve), long time lending systems, and even special overnight lending and E-sharing.
Support the teaching, learning, creative and research activities of MAUTECH through the:

Systematic acquisition and organization of books and journals.
Rational distribution of books and journals among the academic programmes on the basis of need. The need to be determined by the population of students per academic programme, vis-à-vis available financial resources.

Objectives of the Library

Provision of adequate materials in support of the learning process; that is, materials for students’ background reading for essays, term papers and projects.
Provision of relevant materials to meet the requirements of faculty specialists, postgraduate students and researchers;
Provision of core materials to assist the library user in his self-development;
Cooperation with other University Libraries with a view to developing a network of academic library resources, which are at the disposal of all students and teaching staff.

The provision of materials is not only to meet the immediate needs of students and faculty staff but also to help the University realize its strategic, long term, objectives of training and graduating men and women who are academically, technically and morally sound.

Library Organization (Organogram)

The library is operationally divided into six divisions, namely:

Administrative Division
Collection Development Division
Technical Services Division
Readers’ Services Division
Serials Division
Online/Media Cyber Café Division

The above divisions are further divided into several units, which are represented diagrammatically (see Appendixes attached and the organogram).

1. Administrative Division:

The division is headed by the University Librarian who is responsible to the Vice-Chancellor for the day-to-day smooth running of the entire library system of FUTY. The Secretary to the University Librarian (U.L.) is responsible to U.L. for the daily secretarial duties. The secretary controls the secretarial staff in the U.L.’s office.

2. Collection Development Division (CDD)

The Head of this division is responsible to the University Librarian (U.L.) for the selection and acquisition of library resources, through recommendations from faculty members and librarians in order to build a qualitative collection for readers. Students can equally make suggestions of titles they want the library to acquire through their lecturers to the Head of this Division. The division is out of bound to non-library staff. The CDD is covered by the campus wireless internet services.

3. Technical Services Division (TSD)

The Head of this division is responsible to the U.L. for the processing of newly acquired materials i.e. cataloguing and classification of the materials before they are handed over to the Readers’ Services Division to shelve the materials for readers to have access to them. In a nutshell, this is the division that prepares newly acquired materials to be accessible to users. The TSD is covered by the wireless campus wireless services. The division also handles the selective dissemination of information (SDI) services of the library, and produces catalogue cards by computer. This production of cards by computer is to serve as the nucleus for the OPAC, which will soon be introduced using Alice for Windows Software.

4. Readers’ Services Division (RSD)

The Head of this division is responsible to the U.L. for the marketing of the resources of the library. The division comprises three units namely: reference, circulation and reserve collection units. This is the hub of the library where all the readers’ transactions take place. The borrowing and returning of books take place here. Registration of new readers and new staff is done here. Clearance of students and staff who graduate and leave service, respectively, takes place here. The RSD got access to the wireless Internet. The division has a total collection of 35524.

Reference and Public Relations Unit:

This is the unit that houses materials that are consulted for specific piece of information rather than continuous reading. Materials in this unit are not allowed to be used outside the library. They usually bear FOR REFERENCE ONLY stamp. These materials include: encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, bibliographies, yearbooks etc. Users can walk into the Head of Reader Service’s office with their reference queries.

Circulation Unit:

This is the unit that houses materials which readers are allowed to freely browse through to select materials they want to use within the library or borrow out of the library provided they are registered and have been issued with borrower’s tickets. In other words, this is the section that contains loanable books on all subjects. The activities of this unit will soon be computerized into the E-library platform.

Short-Term Loan/Reserve Collection Unit:

This is the unit that houses materials recommended by lecturers and librarians because of their high-demand nature. Also some of the materials are rare or out of print. These materials are consulted on two (2) hourly basis within the library. The period can be extended provided no other reader is in need of the materials. Readers are expected to fill the reserve control form and deposit their university identity cards before the use of the materials. The materials however can be borrowed for overnight use towards the closing of the library during afternoon shift and must be returned to the library the following morning on or before 8:00 a.m.

Post-Graduate Reading Room:

The Postgraduate reading room is strictly for PG students and lecturers only. This is to enhance a good atmosphere for research work for these categories of readers in the University.

5. Serials Division (SD)

The Head of this Division is responsible to the U.L. for the smooth operation of the Division. Serials are different from books.

A serial is any publication issued in successive parts, appearing at intervals, usually regular ones, and as a rule, intended to be continued indefinitely. The term includes periodicals, newspapers, magazines etc. The total volumes of serials is 9,713 volumes of 267 titles.

Current journals are usually displayed on the display shelves for all categories of readers to be consulted within the division. Only lecturers, post-graduate and final year undergraduate students are admitted into the backsets. Journals are not loanable except with permission from the librarian. The Serials Division downloads journal articles for lecturers on SDI basis, and is connected to the Library LAN and the Campus wireless network and The library wireless network.

6. Online/Media/Cyber Café Division (OMCCD)

The Head of this division is responsible to the U.L. for the smooth operation of the E-resources media Audio as usual, the Workstations connected to a dedicated wireless network. There is a section reserved for University Staff so that they do not have to be struggling with students. The division is open from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. daily for now. The access fee to the Internet has been heavily subsidized.

Opening Hours and Services

Semester Period:

Monday – Saturday - 8.00 a.m. – 10.00 p.m.

Sundays - 5.00 p.m. – 10.00 p.m.

Public Holidays - Closed

Vacation Period:

Monday – Saturday - 8.00 a.m. – 6.00 p.m.

Sunday and Public Holidays - Closed

Membership

The following are eligible to register as library members:

Full-time and part-time senior teaching and research staff of the University;
Members of the University Council;
Registered full-time and part-time postgraduate students;
Registered full-time and part-time undergraduate students; and non-graduate students.
University employees, other than those mentioned in (i) above;
Non-members of the University who are permitted to use the library by the University Librarian.

Registration

No person is allowed to use the Library until he or she is registered. All students are registered annually at the beginning of every session, except members of staff who are registered only once for the duration of their stay in the University.
Registration is done by completing the appropriate registration forms and, in the case of faculty members, by producing letters of introduction from their Heads of Departments after which they are issued with the necessary borrower’s tickets.
All library users must have their University identity cards with them when using the library as they may be requested to identify themselves at any time by the library staff.

Organization of Library Resources

The worth of any university is judged mostly by the quantity, quality and currency of the library resources. Whereas in the secondary schools students are more inclined to cram or memorize lecture notes, it is a different ball game in the university. In the university, students are taught how to navigate in the sea of knowledge. This sea of knowledge is the University Library. Lecturers usually present their lectures regularly but often refer students to the library to read certain books and journals to augment the lecturer’s notes. That apart, specific reading lists are given at the beginning of each course for students to seek for those books in the library. This is why students need to be briefed or even taught how to make effective use of the university library.

The resources of the library are arranged in a systematic way in library building. The system of arrangement adopted in this library is known as Library of Congress Classification System. By this system all the various subjects are given coded letters and numbers (i.e. alphabets and Roman numerals), as follows:

A - General Works

B - Philosophy and Religion

BF - Psychology

BL - Religion, Mythology and Rationalism

BP - Islam

BR - Christianity

D - History (General)

G - Geography

GC - Oceanography

GF - Anthropology

H - Social Sciences

HA - Statistics

HB - Economics

J - Political Science

K - Law

L - Education

M - Music

N - Find Arts

P - Philology and Literature

Q - Science (General)

QA - Mathematics

QB - Astronomy

QC - Physics

QD - Chemistry

QE - Geology

QH - Biology

QK - Botany

QL - Zoology

R - Medicine

S - Agriculture

SB - Land Culture and Horticulture

SD - Forestry

SF - Animal Science

SH - Fish Culture and Fisheries

T - Technology (General)

TA - Civil Engineering

TD - Environmental Engineering

TJ - Mechanical Engineering

TK - Electrical Engineering

TP - Chemical Engineering

TS - Industrial Design

TX - Food Science

Z - Bibliography and Library Science

How to Borrow a Book

The library has a list of all the books arranged by authors, titles and subjects. This list is called the Library Catalogue, which is the key to the library. When you need a book in the library, you will consult the library catalogue first. Through the catalogue, you will jot down the classification number (or call number) of the book (see figure I, on p.10). This is the number where the book is shelved in the library. There is need to say that books are shelved separately from journals. In Ibrahim Babangida Library, most of the books are found on the ground floor. There are however, a few books, which are in great demand but limited in quantity, which are kept on temporary reserve, on the first floor, for fair use by students. The journals and newspapers are all shelved on the first floor of the Ibrahim Babangida Library (upstairs). Both the books and journals are arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) System.

Figure I: A TYPICAL LIBRARY CATALOGUE CARD

Class No.

or Call No. Author Title Place of Pub Publisher

THONG, Ho Soo

College mathematics.- vol. 1 /Ho Soo Thong.

.T48 Onitsha: African – Feb Publishers, 2002

592P. :ill

Includes index

ISBN 978 – 175-415-4

27247 1. Mathematics I. Title

Acc. No. of the book Subject of book Date of Pub.

Borrowing (Open Access Collection)

Registered Library users may borrow books as follows:

1. Council members - 3 books for one month

2. Lecturers - 6 books for one month

3. Post-graduate students - 5 books for two weeks

4. Full-time, Part-time & non-graduate students - 3 books for two weeks

5. Other University staff - 3 books for two weeks

6. Non-FUTY Staff permitted to use the library may not borrow books.

How to Return a Borrowed Book

1. Present the book to the assistant at the circulation desk

2. The assistant sorts and locates both the relevant book card and your borrower’s card;

3. The book card is re-inserted in the book and your borrower’s ticket is returned to you;

4. The transaction is now over and the book you borrowed is finally returned to the library;

Procedure for Renewal of Books

Take the book to the assistant at the circulation desk. The book will then be renewed for you if no other reader has booked for its reservation.

Overdue Fines

Overdue books carry fines after notices are sent as reminders in respect of any book not returned on the date stamped on the date due slip. The fines charged are as follows: Staff – N10.00 per day, Students – N5.00 per day.

Reservation of Books in Advance

A book on loan to another user may be reserved in advance by completing a reservation form, obtainable at the circulation counter. The prospective users will be notified by mail or GSM phone as soon as the book is returned to the library. Those who make such reservations must leave a mail address and/or GSM phone number.

Rules and Regulations/Penalties

1. All library users leaving the University are required to obtain clearance from the library to indicate they are not in possession of any library materials

2. Materials not returned will be paid for or replaced. Where the offender opts for the former, the fine shall be five times the current cost of the item involved, but where, he chooses to replace the item the replacement must be done within a fortnight, or any other reasonable time, as determined by the University Librarian or his representative.

3. Students who steal or attempt to steal, damage or mutilate library materials, if found guilty, are liable to:

4. Be suspended from the University for one semester for the first time the offence is committed.

5. Be expelled from the University if the offence is committed for the second time.

6. Students who impersonate for the purpose of borrowing library facilities shall be suspended from the University for one semester, or longer, as the case may be.

7. A library user found marking or to have marked library material(s), furnishing, or structure shall be barred from using the library for one semester or more, depending on the value of the material(s) marked or damaged, as determined by the University Librarian.

8. Cases of lost borrowers’ tickets must be promptly reported at the circulation desk. The cost of replacement is N50.00 per borrowers’ ticket.

9. Smoking, eating and drinking are not allowed in the library

10. Readers shall not reserve seats in the library. Any seat not physically occupied by a user after 20 minutes, may be turned over to another user by the University Librarian or the most Senior Library staff on duty.

11. Umbrellas, bags and personal copies of magazines and newspapers should not be taken into the library. These may be kept in the library Baggage Rack near the entrance, at the owner’s risk.

12. Stiletto shoes and bathroom slippers are not allowed in the library (as they detract attention).

13. Students are expected to dress decently, according to the Federal University of Technology Yola Dress Code.

14. Reading tables and chairs must not be moved from their positions.

Ibrahim Babangida Library Management Team

1. Dr. Tukur Abba (CLN) - Ag. University Librarian

2. Mrs. Norah Yusuf - Head Media Online

3. Mrs. H. B. Aliyu - Senior Librarian & Head CDD

4. Mr. Moses Janteku - Graduate Librarian& Head Serials

5. Prof. Benki S. H.Womboh - Head of Technical Services

6. Mrs. Gloria Ladu - Asst. Librarian & Head RSD

University Senate Library Committee Members

1. DVC (Acad.) - Chairman

2. University Librarian - Member

3. Dean SAAT - Member

4. Dean SEET - Member

5. Dean SPAS - Member

6. Dean SES - Member

7. Dean STSE - Member

8. Dean SMIT - Member

9. Dean SPGS - Member

10. Dean Students Affairs - Member

11. Director APQAU - Member

12. Senate Representative - Member

13. Coordinator Computer Centre - Member

14 HODs of the Library - In attendance

15. Representative of the Registrar - Secretary