DISASTER MANAGEMENT IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN PLATEAU STATE

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to determine disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau State. The study was guided by five research questions covering the types of disasters that have affected these libraries and the extent of damages. It also looked at the disaster management  plan, whether  there  is  any in  place  and  who  the  members  of the disaster management committee are. The research design was descriptive survey with a population of 60 librarians and 84 library officers from 21 academic libraries in Plateau  State. No sampling was done because the population was small and manageable. The instruments for data collection were questionnaire and interview schedule. The questionnaire was designed in line with four point rating scale. One hundred and forty four (144) copies of the questionnaire  were  administered  of  which  one  hundred  and  twenty  eight  (128)  were correctly filled and returned showing 88.9% response rate. Data was analysed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that the major disasters that have affected academic libraries in Plateau State were pests, fire, roof leakage and data alteration (these disasters can cause great damages to the library collections, building and personnel). The study also showed that not all libraries were prepared for disaster management (with only a few accepted to have a written disaster management plan).  Furthermore, the findings showed  that the libraries have the following as some of the problems militating against disaster management: lack of fire alarms, lack of training of staff on disaster management, lack of budgetary allocation for disaster management and lack of fire fighters. The following recommendations were made to remedy the problems: cordial relationship between library management and library staff, having a disaster management plan in place, regular training of staff, seminars and workshops on disaster management, proper electrical installations in the library, proper foundation of library building and approval by town planning authority. They added that regular updating of disaster plan; insuring the library personnel, building and collections and budgetary allocation for disaster management would also serve as remedies.

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CHAPTER  ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Academic libraries are those libraries located in higher institutions of learning such as universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and research institutions. Academic libraries have an important role in the transmission of information and knowledge in higher educational institutions as they facilitate the teaching, learning and research functions of their respective institutions. They are referred to as the heart or nerve centers of institutions of higher learning  where  all  academic  activities  revolved. The users  of these  academic libraries are students, lecturers, and the whole academic community (Aina, 2005).   Aina emphasizes  that  in  a  university  system,  the  quality  of  library  services  rendered  by  a university library is an important factor in the ranking of universities. This expression is acceptable by Ndagana (2000) who expressed that academic libraries are mainly established for research, teaching, and study purposes.  Ndagana emphasized further that these academic libraries try as much as possible to develop their holdings in all areas in which courses are offered by their various institutions.

The  history  of academic  libraries  in  Nigeria  as  Oyedum  (2005)  traced  it to  the development of higher education. Oyedum said the first institution of higher learning in Nigeria was the Yaba higher college opened in 1934 to provide vocational and professional training  for  secondary  school  teachers,  medical,  agricultural,  veterinary  and  forestry assistants  as  well  as  in  engineering  for  subordinate  positions  based  on  government workforce and private enterprise requirements. It had a total stock of 20,000 volumes by

1948. In that same year the volumes were taken over by the university college Ibadan when

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it  was   established.   With   time   academic   libraries   began   to   increase   following   the development of higher institutions of learning in Nigeria, where the collections also increase especially with the introduction of information technology. Here some academic libraries have been connected to the internet so as to make available current relevant materials to their communities.

Edoka (2000), listed the following as functions of academic libraries: To provide information materials required for the academic programmes of the parent institution; to provide  research  information  resources  in  consonance  with  the  needs  of  faculty  and students; to provide information resources for recreation and for personal self-development of users and to provide study accommodation in a useful variety of locations. Others include providing protection and security for these materials; to co-operate with other libraries at appropriate levels for improved information services and to provide specialized information service to appropriate segment of the wider community.

Academic  libraries  make  available  to  its  users  a  variety  of  library  collections. Oyedum (2005) expressed that it is generally believed that, it is not the library building, qualification or experience of library staff that makes the library important rather it is the quality of its  collection  that  a user uses in  judging  the adequacy  of any library.  Thus, collection of a library is the most important needs of the users. That is why the need for well-developed academic programs depends on the strength of its library collections. One cannot expect an excellent  academic program in  any educational  institution  without  the support of a well-equipped library.

The services of the academic library are shared to the different components such as circulation unit, reference unit, serials unit, documents unit, acquisition unit, cataloguing

unit etc for easy dissemination of information. These units function to serve the needs of the library users (students, lecturers and non-teaching staff). Each unit is very important to the success  of  the  academic  library  as  they  all  aimed  at satisfying  the needs  of  users  by safeguarding the collections from harm such as threats of disaster.

Hence disaster can occur or happen when least expected, it sometimes comes unannounced. Disaster is define differently by different authors, according to Alegbeleye (1993) disasters  are unexpected  events  which put people  and materials  at risk, damage buildings,  destroy  information  and  communication  infrastructures,  disrupt  services  and render documentary materials inaccessible to users. They are sudden adverse or unfortunate extreme incidents which cause great damage to human beings, materials as well as plants and  animals.  The  Oxford  Advanced  Learner’s  Dictionary  (2004)  defines  disaster  as unexpected event such as a very bad accident, flood or fire that kills many people or causes serious damage. Disasters occur rapidly, instantaneously and indiscriminately (Khan, 2008). He also observed that these events which occur aggravate natural environmental processes to  cause  disasters  to  human  society,  such  as  sudden  tectonic  movements  leading  to earthquake and volcanic eruptions, continued dry conditions leading to prolonged droughts, floods, atmospheric disturbances, collision of celestial bodies, etc.

Khan   (2008)   further   expressed   that   disasters   have   always   co-existed   with civilizations which through technological advancement, developed initiatives resulting in the creation of many infrastructure and permanent assets.  This means that all aspects of man’s endeavor are affected by disaster. In this study, disaster is seen as an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress to lives and properties. It is an emergency situation or occurrence that happens unexpectedly and demands immediate attention. Various literature

consulted revealed that academic libraries have been faced with varying degrees of threats such as disaster which calls for serious concern of the academic librarians. The extent of this problem varies from one library to another. In some cases the dimension of the problem is so severe, while in others it is mild depending on the area the library is situated.

Disaster could be natural or man-made. The natural disasters are those natural events in  the  environment  that  occur  without  man’s  influence  or  intervention    such  as  flood, hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption, fire, drought, typhoon, tsunami, mudslide, extreme cold or heat wave.   While   man-made disasters are those caused or influenced by man, causing  financial losses, risks, hazards and suffering such as, war, water from broken pipes, leaking  roofs,  explosives,  liquid  chemical  spills,  building  deficiencies,  terrorism,  pests, insects, data alteration, viruses injection, tempering with password, server destructions etc.

Natural disasters from various studies are experienced mostly by countries outside

Nigeria just as Onwuka (2012) said:

God decided  to distribute  resources  to the nations  of the world.  He gave earthquake  and tsunami to Indonesia,  Japan, India, Sri Lanka, China  and some other nations.   To Japan, China,  Haiti, Italy and  other  countries  He gave earthquake.  Then  He gave hurricane  and tropical storm to the United  States and Central America.  To Ethiopia,  Somalia  and some others in the Sahel region, God gave drought. Then when it was time for extreme cold, He gave it to the Antarctica, Russia and Greenland, Canada and Alaska (USA), while extreme heat was given to the Middle East, Mali and Sudan. When it was Nigeria’s turn, He gave the nation a great climate, enough rainfall, moderate sunshine, no earthquake, no hurricane, no tsunami, no mudslide, no volcano, no drought. (p.17)

Fire has done a great damage to academic libraries and information centers all over the world. Fire has wreaked havoc in such Nigeria libraries as Forestry Research Institute Library in 1988, National Library of Nigeria in 1990 and more recently the University of Jos Library in 2013. Likewise flood, Ngulube and Magaji (2006) noted that Cape Town in South Africa experienced flooding which hit rural communities in Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern

Cape. University of Ibadan was destroyed by flood in 1980, 1995 and more recently in 2011 (Onwubiko, 2012).

In recent times terrorism has become an issue and a major threat to libraries and other information centers. For instance the September 11, 2001 terrorists bombing of the World  Trade  Centre,  where  three  libraries  were  damaged,  and  the  Pentagon  libraries destroyed  records, books and other documentary  materials (Buchanan, 2002). In Nigeria terrorists who named themselves “Boko Haram” (meaning western education is forbidden) are greatly causing havoc to the whole country especially in the extreme North where library users hardly visit the libraries in recent times. For these problems to be solved there is need to find out ways of preventing those which are preventable and managing or controlling those that are not preventable.

The consequences of disaster to academic library are disastrous as it may affect the entire  library  collections  and  services.  This  might  bring: the  complete  close  up  of the libraries; damage  to  library  materials  and buildings;  reduction  in the  volume of library materials such as books, journals, magazines, computers etc.; unsatisfactory library services and  frustration  to  users.  Therefore,  there  is  the  need  for  disaster  management  in  the academic libraries.

Disaster management is generally defined as the actions taken by an organization in response  to  unforeseen  or unexpected  events  that  adversely affect  the environment  and people in the area surrounding that organization. For example fire, flooding, earthquakes, wars  etc. Disaster  management  focuses  on  ways  to  prevent disaster  from  happening or reduce   the  consequences   when  it  happens   (McMillan,1998).He   pointed  out   that   it encompasses  all  aspects  of  planning  for  and  responding  to  disasters,  including  hazard

analysis, vulnerability reduction (preparedness), prevention, mitigation, response, recovery and rehabilitation. Disaster management assists in determining the likelihood of hazards and lessening the consequences of risks to library materials as it looks at the precautions of disasters which can be prevented or minimized.   Lyall (1995) observed that disaster management is a continuous  and integrated multi-sectional, multi-disciplinary  process of planning  and  implementing  the  measures  aimed  at  preventing  or  reducing  the  risk  of disasters, mitigating the severity or consequences of disasters, preparedness, rapid and effective response and recovery to disasters.

Ahenkorah-  Marfo  and  Borteye  (2010)  citing  Akussah  and  Fosu,  stressed  that disaster management aims at: protecting people, libraries and materials, avoiding a disaster by being pro-active, reducing the possibility and the effects of a disaster if it happens, and expediting  response  and  recovery  efforts  in  an organized  and  systematic  manner.  They further explained that disaster management in libraries became an issue as a result of the National  Disaster  Management  Organization  (NADMO)  report  about  the  annex  of  the Balme Library of the University of Ghana which was destroyed by fire. With the above views therefore, disaster management is no longer a choice, but mandatory for all including academic   libraries,   individuals   and   organizations.   The   fullest  provision   for   library maintenance is regarded as the primary and most vital need in the equipment of an academic institution.

Disaster management in the view of Haigh (2012) has four phases (disaster management lifecycle) such as mitigation; preparedness; response; and recovery. Mitigation is the first phase of disaster management which aimed to minimize the effects of disaster in academic libraries, archives and all information centers. Mitigation is the action to reduce

the consequences of a disaster impact such as injuries and loss of life and properties, since it may  not  be possible  to  prevent  all  disasters.  This  phase  is  also  known  as  pre-disaster mitigation.  At this phase  focus  is on  meeting  the basic needs of the people until more permanent and sustainable solutions can be found.

Preparedness  focuses on  the efforts  put in place to prevent the occurrence of a disaster and how to fight or control the impact when it happens. In other words it involved activities  as planning  (developing  a disaster  management  plan) and  training  the  library community to respond to and recover from a disaster. These measures can be described as readiness to deal with disasters which can be enhanced by having response mechanisms and procedures, rehearsals, developing long-term and short-term strategies, public education and building early warning systems (Haigh, 2012).The response phase is the implementation of the action plans when disaster occurs in order to reduce or ameliorate the negative impact of a disaster. This could be in form of search and rescue operations aiming at salvaging lives, properties and the entire environment.

Recovery is the fourth phase of disaster management and is the restoration of all aspects of the disaster’s impact on a community and the return of the local economy to some sense  of  normalcy,  including  saving  lives,  meeting  humanitarian  needs  (food,  shelter, clothing, public health and safety), and supporting the morale of the affected population (Rosenberg, 2013). This phase can be broken into two periods, the short-term and the long- term. The short-term lasts from six months to one year and it involves delivering immediate services to businesses. While the long-term can range up to decades, requires thoughtful strategic planning and action to address more serious or permanent impacts of a disaster.

Onwubiko (2012) mentioned that there was no emergency body until 1990 when National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) came into being by the National Emergency Relief Agency (NERA) decree in 1990.   Onwubiko said that by implication, there was no disaster management before 1990. He mentioned that by 1993 the Federal Government then expanded the scope of disaster management through decree 119 which raised  the  status  of  NERA  to  an  independent  body  under  the  presidency  with  the responsibility  for formulating general policies and guidelines  relating to management of disasters in Nigeria. This has added strength to academic libraries consider disaster management is a major concern for everyone in the academic library so that all academic collections would survive and be available to users when required. Kingori and Otike (2007) opined that disaster management is important because of the value of the material, physical and human resources which can be affected by them.

Academic libraries must be prepared for all types of disasters, whether natural or man- made, that may occur in their libraries, as the effect of not being prepared may lead to loss of materials , loss of life, or, ultimately, the loss of the library building.  They must also be able to response to disaster when it happens, be able to recover from it and lastly be able to prevent those which are preventable by being security conscious. Plumbe ( as cited in Asuzu, 2000) backed  it up  by saying  that  the best protection  a library can  give  to  its collections is to have a concrete building such that the library building is solidly designed to secure the collections as well as to provide readers easy access to library collections. He stated further that security can take precedence over accessibility because security provides some guarantee to the continued availability of library materials, since without any security measures; nothing will be left in the libraries.

Academic libraries in Plateau State exist within their respective institutions (federal, state, religious organization and privates) to serve their various academic needs. They have a pivotal role in the transmission of information and knowledge in their higher educational institutions  in  order  to  facilitate  the  teaching,  learning  and  research  functions  of their respective institutions. Therefore disaster management in these libraries should be granted with all seriousness as they are functioning under disastrous conditions because of the crisis that engulfed the state from 2001 to date. The flooding that swept some parts of the state in

2012 and the recent fire that engulfed university of Jos library on the 27th March 2013. And also with the threats that come from Boko Haram which destroyed Gombe State University Administrative block, bombing of Christian worshippers in a chapel in Bayero University, Kano. In Jos campus of Plateau State Polytechnic, someone was caught with substances suspected to be explosive devices.  Thousands of lives have been lost, there has also been extensive damage to properties, and the development prospects of the state have been set back.  Jos,  the  state  capital  and  a  major  northern  city is  the  epicenter  of much  of the insecurity in Plateau  State. \This does not go well for the security of the population  as Government organizations, places of worships, markets, social gatherings and schools are the places mostly targeted. It is because of this that Plateau State was selected for this study. Statement of the Problem

Academic libraries are referred to as the heart or nerve centers of the institutions. Materials in the academic libraries are vulnerable to disaster of various kinds, such as fire, flood, pests destructions, windstorm, computer viruses etc.  They usually leave in their trail very unpleasant experiences.  Effective disaster preparedness in these academic libraries is necessary.  The disaster management preparedness  would safeguard  the institutions  from

losing their library materials, as the effect of not having disaster management measures in academic libraries would cause them to lose their materials when disaster strikes.

The academic libraries in Plateau State appear to be facing many problems such as disasters especially attacks  from  these  rebellious  Boko  Haram  insurgents  whereby their valuable materials are at risk if necessary steps are not taken. When  disaster or threats of disasters in the libraries are not manage properly, there is that tendency of losing library materials, personnel and the entire library buildings, and making the higher institutions’ effort of stocking  their libraries  with resources that support their academic  programmes ineffective. There is no any empirical study on disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau state. Thus, the problem of the study is: determine disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau state.

Purpose of the  Study

The pupose of this study is to determine  disaster  management in academic libraries in Plateau State. Specifically, the study is set to achieving the following:

(1) To identify the nature of disasters that have affected academic libraries in Plateau State. (2) To determine the extent of damage from disasters in academic libraries in Plateau State. (3) To ascertain the disaster management plan academic libraries  used

(4) To find out the problems militating against disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau State.

(5) To determine the strategies that can be adopted by academic libraries in Plateau State to help in disaster management.

Research  Questions

The following research questions are formulated to guide this study:

1.   What are the disasters  that have affected academic libraries in Plateau State?

2.   What  has  been  the  extent  of  damage  from  disasters  or  threats  of  disasters  in academic libraries in Plateau State?

3.   What disaster management plan do these academic libraries use?

4.   What are the problems militating against disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau State?

5.   What are the strategies that can be adopted by academic libraries in Plateau State to help in disaster management?

Significance of the Study

The  findings  of  this  study  are  expected  to  be  significant  to  the  following: administrators of academic institutions, administrators of academic libraries, library committees, librarians, authors, publishers, students and researchers.

In   specific   terms   the   findings   will   be   significant   to   academic   institutions administrators  in  the area of policy formulation  that concerns disasters  matters  of their institutions.  While  those administrators  in  the libraries  will benefit  from the findings  if adopted in terms of planning for disaster especially in formulating written policies of their libraries, for example those that concern disaster and disaster threats and how to choose who will be members of the disaster plan committee.

The findings of the study will also be significant to library committee on disaster matters by creating more awareness and consciousness as regards the strategies to enhance effective disaster management. It is also hoped that this work will be educative to librarians on disaster management. It will assist them in identifying their lapses and hence improve on their security awareness of their resources. It is expected that the study will reveal to the

librarians the existing measures that will be used to prevent the occurrence of disasters in their libraries.

Authors and publishers are also expected to benefit from the findings of this study as they will be enlightened on the benefits of proper management of disasters as it an existing body of knowledge.  Finally this research work is hoped to be of interest and assistance to students and researchers who will embark on similar studies in the future, as it is hoped to contribute to existing body of knowledge in disaster management and It will serve as a reference material and a working document for academic libraries in Nigeria and in Plateau State in particular.

Scope of the Study The  study  was  restricted  to  academic  libraries  in  Plateau  State  of  Nigeria.  It investigated disaster management in academic libraries in Plateau State. It covered academic libraries, disasters, types of disasters and disaster management.

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