Children's Centre University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
| Children's Centre University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. |
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Guidelines for collection development were drawn up in 1982 and revised in 2003. Fiction is selected by the twin criteria of relevance and quality. In pursuance of this, the CCL aims at a comprehensive collection of African children’s books and a selection of the best international children’s literature (in English and English translation). Selection criteria for the nonfiction collection emphasize the three basic areas of the sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Nonfiction titles are selected in the following order of priority: books specific to African culture or environment; books describing a similar or related environment; books universal in scope or illustrating aspects of the variety of the natural world or human environment.
The
reference collection is made up of basic reference sources suitable for children,
such as encyclopedias, multi-volume series, dictionaries, and atlases, etc.;
nonfiction titles with an African background (second copy); and children’s
magazines and related periodicals. The vertical file collection of pamphlets
and clippings from Nigerian periodicals provides local and topical information
to users and has proved especially useful for school assignments. Audiovisual
resources include a picture and map collection, story kits, toys and puppets,
and indoor games such as ncholokoto, scrabble and chess. In 2005 the library added three computers to its collection.
To assist parents and others involved with the education of children, the library also maintains a small basic collection of titles on child development, the child in relation to society and culture, parenting, early childhood and primary education, children’s literature, reading development, and a selection of reading aids.
The newest collection is the library of the Psycho-Educational Testing Service. This is made up of periodicals and books in the areas of educational psychology, child development, and special education, as well as tests and reading materials.
African Children’s Literature
Research Collection(ACLRC)
The
African Children’s Literature Research Collection is one of the most important
areas of the library collection. This collection of over 1,000 titles includes
a second copy of each title the library acquires of African children’s
literature. It aims to provide a comprehensive collection of Nigerian children’s
literature and a selection of literature from other African countries. The ACLRC is housed in an alcove donated in memory of Prof. (Mrs.) Edith Ihekweazu. Scholars
from within and outside the University of Nigeria have used this collection
extensively for research purposes. This collection is especially vital because
many titles are no longer available. One of the library’s greatest areas
of need is for funds to purchase titles of African children’s literature,
and local Nigerian titles in particular.
Click on Publications for more information.
Story
Hour -One
of the oldest activities run by the CCL is the Saturday story hour. Over the
years this activity has taken various forms, consisting of storytelling, reading
aloud, poetry, songs, puppet shows and games. Storytellers include members of
the Children’s
Centre Committee, youth corpers, university students, or other volunteers. Themes
have ranged from rain and wind, animals, tricksters, to friendship, holidays,
and cultures of the world. Numbers vary from 10 to about 90 children of the
ages 3 to 10 years.
Reading
Club - The library has also organized reading club activities.
For instance, in 1995 the CCL ran
a “pilot” reading programme, the Garfield Reading Club to encourage
voluntary reading, foster creativity, and increase awareness
of the variety of reading materials available in the library.
Library Corps - Another long-standing activity is the library corps, a changing group of library member volunteers who help around the library with book processing and mending tasks and assist in supervising the younger children.
Outreach-The Children's Centre Library has active outreach programs to local primary schools and prisons. It has hosted a number of Conferences and workshops for teachers and school librarry personnel. Click on Outreach for more infromation.