Meet Damilare Oyedele, a Library Advocate and a Librarypreneuer who is passionate about the emancipation of human minds through access to information. Damilare is the founder of Library and You, a not-for-profit organization that focuses on access to information through functional and efficient libraries. Also, he currently serves as the Team Lead: Nigerian Youths SDGs Network Abuja; a network of Nigerian youth championing course towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
In this interview with Adenike Bamigbade, Damilare shares his experience working as a library advocate in Nigeria. He is a known guest in international conferences on how libraries drive progress across developmental plans.
There is no access to information without functional and efficient libraries.
How did you start Library and You?
I started Library and You with the view to create awareness and resuscitate libraries. I realized that libraries are not known, so I decided to work on an initiative that will create awareness about libraries and the benefits libraries offers. In February 2016, we started with a Seasonal TV Series on Osun State Broadcasting Corporation Television Channel 32 UHF (OSBC TV) and STARTIMES Channel 113. It featured documentaries, interviews with authors, librarians, publishers etc, where discussions and feasible solution were proffered to issues around reading culture, literacy development and need for improved library development and usage in Nigeria.
What area of SDGs you are working on?
My work cuts across all the SDGs. Because the SDGs are interconnected and to achieve these societal goals, access to information is pivotal. However, there is no access to information without functional and efficient libraries.
Library is a platform that provides access to information and knowledge in print and electronic format.
Thus, access to information is a complex, constructed issue, and the subject of advocacy by sectors far beyond libraries. Public health professionals will talk about building an understanding of health issues and healthier lifestyles. Transparency campaigners focus specifically on government information and data, including through legislation such as Right to Information and Freedom of Information acts. Many actors are involved in efforts to develop internet connectivity and bring the next billions of people online through developing infrastructure and providing computers and other devices. Others work on building the digital skills, media and information literacy capabilities that people need to effectively use information. And of course, there is a growing movement thinking about preservation to ensure ongoing access for future generations.
Libraries, uniquely, have a focus on providing access to all sorts of information and covering all of the aspects of meaningful access. The library is a platform that provides access to information and knowledge in print and electronic format. These services can be provided in a building and or via web/online platform, although it is physical libraries that best offer the space for communities to come together to interact with knowledge, share experiences among others.
It could be school libraries, public libraries, university and college libraries, research libraries or private libraries.
Pursuing a career as a library advocate and Librarypreneuer is a huge responsibility, most especially in a society where library development and usage are not given cognizance.
What motivated you to start Library and You?
Over the years, my motivation has been the passion I have for my work, commitment and consistency. Though there are times when I feel like quitting, but when I think about why I have chosen my career path and the impact to make on the society, it motivates and encourages me to keep pushing. In Nigeria, pursuing a career as a library advocate and Librarypreneuer is a huge responsibility, most especially in a society where library development and usage are not given cognizance. So, there is a necessity to invest extra efforts. What has really kept me going has been the determination to achieve excellence. I wish to end with a promising quote from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah which says ‘We neither face east nor west; we only face forward.’
How does Library and You work? Please give us details
Library and You is a not-for-profit organization on a mission to revamp libraries in Africa for societal impacts. We focus on access to information through pragmatic initiatives designed to create awareness and resuscitate libraries in schools and communities. We operate from Nigeria, with volunteer presence in the Republic of Benin, Ghana, Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
Over the years, we have worked on various projects that cut across creating awareness and visibility for libraries. We collaborate and partner with relevant stakeholders to work on impact driven projects designed to resuscitate libraries in schools and communities.
Currently, we are working on Library Impact Project: an initiative that seeks to facilitate access to information towards achieving the SDGs through functional and efficient libraries. This project cuts across 8 African countries with the view to achieving 16 outputs in each of the 8 African countries; Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, Mali, Togo, Cameroon and Republic of Benin.
As an organization committed to library advocacy, we harness various advocacy techniques to carry out our projects through strategic partnerships and collaborations.
What has really kept me going has been the determination to achieve excellence.
What does it mean to be a Librarypreneuer?
Actually, I do not have an official or a definition generally acceptable for a Librarypreneuer. I adopted the word as a result of my engagement in the library space. In a sentence, a Librarypreneuer is someone who starts and manages their own library business. I hope this explains it all.
What is your take on the reading culture in Nigeria?
Well, there is much work to do in terms of improving reading culture in Nigeria, and it starts with having functional and efficient school and public libraries. It is sad to note that libraries have suffered from various challenges that have over the years militate against its functionality and efficiency in terms of funding, capacity, infrastructure among many others.
Looking at the benefits libraries offers in terms literacy development, improving reading culture and developing a reading habit; I believe for us to have an improved reading culture in Nigeria, it is highly essential to invest more in libraries.
For us to have an improved reading culture in Nigeria, it is highly essential to invest more in libraries.
When we say we want to increase the use of library in Nigeria, do we mean academic books or any kind of books?
Libraries have a sole mandate to provide access to information for all. This cuts across all types of information: textbooks, works of literature, journals, articles, visuals, audio-visuals, government document etc. Do note that libraries differ based on the community they serve; public libraries, school libraries, academic libraries, research libraries, and private libraries with the sole responsibility to provide access to information for all, which is done via printed resources or electronic format. Thus, the advent of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has been a great advantage for libraries to further reach more clientele through E-Library services.
How has the use of library changed your life?
While growing up as a young boy in my community I did not have access to a library as the schools I attended never had a library. As a matter of fact, I never knew anything called library. This denied me access to literature, ability to use information independently, my reading culture was poor and I could not communicate fluently. This made me encounter numerous challenges as I failed national examination 2 consecutive times due to my poor reading habit.
My premier encounters with a library begun immediately I was offered admission into a higher institution of learning to study Library and Information Science. I soon cultivated the habit of studying in the confines of a library, I began to experience and explore the merits a library had to offer. For the first time in my life, I had access to information and other intellectual property independently. This over the years has equipped me with the ability to interact with knowledge and information for studying, research and practical implementation for societal development.
My curiosity made me conceive that the problem faced in Africa has to do with lack of/inadequate access to information. As access to information helps develop an informed literate citizen that will contribute positively and actively in the decision-making process of the government.
However, there is no access to information without functional and efficient libraries. Because, libraries create platforms where reading skills, literacy development and the ability to use information independently are imbibed in people, among others.
This has made me to persistently pursue and invest my aspiration as a Library Advocate and a Librarypreneuer.
For us to achieve Quality Education by 2030 in Nigeria, government and other relevant stakeholders should take library development a top priority in our schools.
How can library use in Nigeria help us achieve SDGs 4 by 2030?
Libraries have to do with access to information and to achieve the SDGs, access to information is eminent beyond comparison. For us to achieve Quality Education by 2030 in Nigeria, government and other relevant stakeholders should take library development a top priority in our schools. As libraries have a major role to play in developing and improving reading culture and literacy development.
Tell us three things we would find in your bag:
Three things you would find in my bag are: My library card, my note pad and a book.
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