Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
8-24-2021
Abstract
The paper is a critical assessment of the faculty/academic status of librarians in university libraries in Nigeria in order to determine the level of parity with the faculty staff. The paper uses seven criteria that are comparable with the benchmark of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) for determining the academic status of librarians. It is argued that even though librarians enjoy parity with the lecturers in the areas of appointment, promotion, sabbatical, leaves, salaries to some extents, they are largely not accorded academic status that is comparable with the lecturers in the following areas: Headship of the faculty and the university library, academic departments, teaching staff, university governance, academic career, PhD Requirement and ASUU membership, recognition and governance which makes their academic status a myth. It is further argued that librarians could stand and form their own union if government is not ready to accord them full academic status. However, recommendations that could help the librarians to enjoy the full academic status are provided for urgent implementation.