By Alex Enebeli
The National Library of Nigeria (NLN) has urged authors in the country to deposit their literary works to the library for preservation and future generations.
The Head of the Library in Enugu, Dr Onyekachi Essien, made the call when she received new Executive members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Enugu Branch, led by its Chairman, Dr Adaobi Nwoye, on Thursday.
Essien said that this had become necessary as it was in line with the law for every author to deposit his or her works with the National Library and the National Bibliography of Nigeria (NBN).
According to her, the National Library is the apex library; it is the national repository and the organisation given the mandate to acquire and preserve every literary works in the nation.
The librarian said that the literary works were not restricted to books alone but included home videos, films, and electronic publications.
She listed the benefits of the deposits to include preservation of the nation’s intellectual output for future generation, bibliographic control of the nation’s publications and listing in the NBN.
Other benefits are entrenching authors names in the nation’s publication history, listing publisher’s name in the NBN for consultation and the legal deposit copy being the only authentic copy accepted by law courts in case of litigation.
She also educated the authors on the need to get their International Standard Serial Number (ISSN), an eight digit number which identified periodical publications including electronic serials.
Essien also encouraged them to acquire the 13-digit International Standard Book Number (ISBN) that identified a book for commerce and control as well as for global ordering and distribution
She thanked ANA for the visit and promised to partner with the Association which she described as the major stakeholder of the National Library.
Earlier, the ANA chairperson, Dr Nwoye, said that its visit to the library was deliberate, strategic and pivotal as ANA, Enugu, considered the National Library as one of the most critical stakeholders in the book world.
According to her, this visit is very important to us. ANA and the National Library should have a symbiotic relationship.
“ANA, you might not be aware, was first conceived here in Enugu State in the sitting room of late Prof. Chinua Achebe in 1981. That is the foundation of ANA. So Enugu State is the cradle of literature.
“We want to give this state more visibility and more viability in terms of literary output. That is why we have come to seek areas of collaboration,” she said.
The chairperson used the occasion to announce the hosting of ANA’s convention holding in June in Enugu State.
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