Development of advocacy and action plan with decision makers of public secondary schools on libraries in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

One of the best ways to advance a course of action is by direct involvement of leadership and stakeholders. In this regard, an advocacy action was carried out, based on the low state of some school libraries in Akwa Ibom, Southern Nigeria. The target for the advocacy action was heads/principals of secondary schools when they assembled during their first official meeting with the new Chair of the State Secondary Education Board on March 2013, under the aegis of All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Schools (ANCOPPS). The meeting recorded the largest turnout of principals from all over the state. The contact with the principals was designed to open up possibilities for the Library Association in the state to partner with and offer possible assistance towards the improvement of public school libraries. Following this, an enquiry session was conducted with each school principal to ascertain the status of their school library in terms of funding, staffing and planning issues. The outcome was revealing with portrayals of the current state of school libraries which were not significantly plausible, resulting in a proposed plan of action by related library authorities with ateentative communiqué. On the whole the advocacy was worthwhile in terms of the possibilities of bringing about change, though follow up is required to ensure progressive line of action.