Intl. Inform. & Libr. Rev. (1995) 27, 283–293 The Status of Broadcasting Libraries in Nigeria (A Study of Bauchi and Plateau States) STEPHEN A. AKINTUNDE* ABSTRACT A study of broadcasting libraries in Nigeria was carried out using the social survey method. Questionnaire, observation, and interview techniques were used to generate data from a representative sample of the nation’s broadcast media stations (radio and television) located in the Bauchi and Plateau States of Nigeria. A general underdevelopment of the libraries was revealed. Staffing is inadequate in number and is also non- specialized. Preservation and conservation practices are vir- tually non-existent. Whereas the content of the modest col- lection shows a rich resource base, collection development is near-crippled while mediagraphic control is done more by com- mon-sense than by any system. State stations generally fared better than federal ones. Poor funding was identified as the major constraint in the general development of the libraries. Suggestions were offered towards revenue generation and the need for professional leadership in the country’s broadcasting libraries. © 1995 Academic Press Limited I NTRODUCTION Mass media libraries, particularly broadcasting libraries, in Nigeria appear to have received very little attention in library literature. Thisisattributable to the low level of development of audio-visual collections in Nigerian libraries 1 and, until recently, the dearth of professional manpower in mass media libraries. Broadcasting libraries, as academic and research libraries are to their parent institutions, are the womb of the broadcasting stations. In Nigeria, radio broadcasting dates back to 1933 when an experimental station of the newly inaugurated overseas service of the British Broad- *University of Jos Library, P.M.B. 2084, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria 1 NWALI, L. O. and Bello, M. A. ‘‘Multimedia use in Nigerian libraries: problems and prospects’’. Audiovisual Librarian (Vol. 18, 1992, pp. 174–177). 1057–2317/ 95/ 030283+ 11 $12.00/ 0 © 1995 Academic Press Limited