The Director, Kwara State Library Board, Mrs Roseline Abidoye, has appealed to the state government to come to the aid of the board by re-fixing its dilapidated structures.
The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that Abidoye made the appeal at the occasion of the golden jubilee of the board, held in Ilorin, the state capital, on Saturday.
According to her, the present situation of the library needs instant attention to keep the library functioning and make it achieve its aims and objectives of catering for all categories of people in its immediate environment.
“The library building is almost at the verge of collapse and part of the roof is already blown off by rainstorms.
“The edifice is getting weak, while all the electrical fittings had gone bad,” she said.
Abidoye said the library was initially built in 1968 and located around the Emir’s Palace.
Its annex, she said, was located at Old Red Cross Building, under the leadership of late Pa. John Popoola, the Chief Librarian.
The director added that its present location at Sulu Gambari Road, Ilorin, was commissioned in 1990 by the then President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, retired General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
Abidoye further explained that 16 years later, the present President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, who was then the state governor, overhauled and transformed the library into an E-Library.
Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the board, Chief Isaac Kolawole, had expressed displeasure over the present challenges of the state library.
Kolawole, however, assured that necessary machinery would be put in motion to ensure the library was refurbished.