Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the history and administrative structure, financial management, collection, users and library staff of university libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The study covered all those well-established public and private sector universities of the province which were chartered by the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and recognized by HEC (Public= 18 and Private = 9, Total 27 universities). The newly established universities which were housed in rented buildings and had no proper library facilities were excluded from the study. Data was collected from the library professionals of universities through structured questionnaire. Results of the study show that University of Peshawar was established following the birth of Pakistan in 1950 and is generally known the “mother of all universities”. After independence in 1947 till 1995, the total number of universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both in public and private sectors were five which has now reached to 37. Centralized library system is the most dominating in all the private and majority of the public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Budgets are randomly allocated for collection which varies from millions to thousands. The collection of university libraries includes both traditional and electronic resources. However, access to most of the electronic resources is provided through HEC Digital Library. University libraries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa serve a wide range of users including graduates, post graduates, researchers, teaching community, administrative staff and to some extent the external users.