The Iconic Kashim Ibrahim Library: One of Africa’s Largest University Libraries

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The great Kashim Ibrahim Library or KIL as Abusites prefer to call it is a legendary monument in the heart of the main campus of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.

It is a giant among its peers not just by size and collection but also by the caliber of personalities it has nurtured and the number of renowned scholars, political leaders, business leaders, jurists, etc who discovered knowledge and wisdom within Its walls.

It is the main Library of ABU and its services and collections are entirely dedicated to supporting the A.B.U community of faculty, researchers, students, and staff. The great KIL also allows external researchers and postgraduates to request the use of its extensive catalog of books and journals.

It has excellent internet connectivity and efficient online access to rich e-resources and digital content through advanced information and communication technology-based facilities.

Kashim Ibrahim Library is home to a hybrid collection of printed materials, and other e-resources such as e-journals, e-books, electronic theses & dissertations (ETD), technical reports of research organizations, and bibliographic databases.

Historical Overview of Kashim Ibrahim Library – KIL

AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY is the seat of Knowledge in west Africa and the seat of knowledge in Ahmadu Bello University is KASHIM IBRAHIM LIBRARY (KIL)! The magnificent edifice, our leaders of thought constructed about six decades ago. It remained the largest structure that houses a university library in sub-Sahara Africa.

KIL is on a two-story building, but indeed rooming substantial acres of land that is enough to house some universities. Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL) is the main University Library.

Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL)
The great Kashim Ibrahim Library was established in 1962

The great Kashim Ibrahim Library was established in 1962, and the complex was formally opened in December 1976. The Library has a total holding of over 1.2 million volumes of books and 66,000 periodical titles.

The library is at the center of research and scholarship playing a major role in acquiring, processing, and lending library materials and responding to patron’s inquires. The circulation hall, which has accommodated so many university exhibitions, is as wide as international trade-fair grounds in Nigeria

The information unit, very close to the library entrance, should be the first point of call to a new entrant to the library, then the circulation counter directly facing the library entrance for guidance and registration. The constantly up-dated subject and author catalogues are within reach of the circulation counter. Within reach also is a photocopying facility, very handy for researchers.

The public conveniences are also within the ground floor. Still on the ground floor, in addition to the circulation staff, the office of Head of Reader services is stationed here, in case a researcher, most often external researchers and postgraduate students, meet a blank wall in their pursuits, the Head of Reader services is their “lifeguard”, who saves these drowning researchers.

ALSO READ: Why President Kennedy Library Kongo Was Named After the 35th President of the USA

The university library facility was designed to serve one of the largest pools of members of the university – the present and graduates of the university and of course other scholars all over the world. The facility includes Open Shelf Study Areas; this occupies the first floor and part of the second floor. The Arts and Social Sciences readership – A-H and J-P are on the first floor and the Medical, Techno-Engineering, and Physical Sciences – Q-Z on the second floor.

Of course researchers are fully aware of the intermarriages in education, as such one may find inter disciplinarian material in different sections of the library. With a few exceptions, the book stock is arranged on open shelves, books for lending/borrowing stock. Ample seating space for studying is provided in each of the three rooms.

KASHIM IBRAHIM LIBRARY (KIL), also have specialized sections, these are; Serial, Reference Section, CD-ROM Access Room, The Media Division, Reserve Books Unit, Africana, the Document Section, Casual Reading Parlour, and New Books on Display and the Internet Access for students and researchers. Like any other organization, the daily smooth running of its organs is normally carried by efficient, always behind the scene departmental staff.

In KIL, the efficiency and the effective use of the library lies on competent academic and administrative staff, headed by the able University Librarian. They are responsible for monitoring the latest publications the world over and determining what is or should be consumable to the university’s reading community. There are also the Cataloguing Units, Shelf Monitoring Staff, the Bindery Section and others for the administrative running of offices.

All these staff are significant in the convenience, efficiency and effective use of the library by the researcher, if he is aware of them or not and seldom is he. Certainly, KIL, either saves or kills the soul of ABUSITES. KIL is the provider of the university soul as well as the provider of what nourishes and sustains that soul.

The Significance of KIL

KIL is ABU’s priceless gold mine, the university’s brain bank, the reservoir, the fountain from which intelligence and illumination radiate in the university community through her teaming students – past and present. The maximum use of KIL positively is what determines your class of graduate. You can either use it wisely or “wisely” avoid it, it’s up to you, that is your choice!

What the university owes you is to ensure that the seat of knowledge is constantly up-to-date with the state of the art stocked learning and research materials. The “University students should not expect to have knowledge poured into them and must not be lacking in ability and the will to study for themselves. The universities’ unique function is to stimulate the clash in thinking between orthodox and dissentient views.” Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Library Complex Setup / Layout

The Kashim Ibrahim Library Complex comprises of the main Library located in the Main Campus, Samaru, a three-storey building with dozens of offices, departments, sections, units etc. These house the various administrative, financial, technical and other staff, as well as resources repositories and others.

The Complex also has under it several special satellite libraries / branches found in various sections of the University, in the Main Campus, Kongo Campus, Teaching Hospital, and other Centers and Divisions of the University, including those outside Zaria, like the SBRS Funtua, Arewa House Kaduna, etc.

Lastly, the Complex also has departmental and faculty satellite libraries in almost every department and faculty in all the Campuses and sub-divisions of the University. These are also generally set up in such a way as to reflect the needs of the specific departmental staff and students, based on the fields of study found there.

Our satellite libraries are:
S/NName
1President Kennedy Library
2Law Library
3Centre for Islamic Legal Studies Library
4Institute for Agricultural Research Library
5National Animal Production Research Institute Library (NAPRI)
6National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services Library (NAERLS)
7Pre-Clinical Medical Library (Samaru Campus)
8Clinical Medical Library (Tudun-Wada/Shika)
9Lee T. Railsback (Veterinary Medicine) Library
10Arewa House (AH) Library
11Division of Agricultural Colleges Library (DAC)
12Abdullahi Mohammed (Samaru Public) Library (AMPL)
Organogram of Kashim Ibrahim Library – KIL
Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL)
Administration of KIL
Kashim Ibrahim Library (KIL)
Prof. Umar Ibrahim
Current University Librarian
2016 – DATE
Contact KIL

To find out more about what you can do at KIL, or how you can effectively use the Library, please visit the Customer Service Division in the Library Complex. Or you can send an email to any or some of the following email addresses

LibrarianReference LibrarianCirculation DeskWebmaster
Email: librarian@abu.edu.ng, library@abu.edu.ngEmail: kilreference@abu.edu.ngEmail: kilcirculation@abu.edu.ngEmail: masoba@abu.edu.ng
kilwebmaster@abu.edu.ng

Credit to Usman, Sule Machika


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Chila Andrew Aondofa

Founder/Team lead at TheAbusite.com | Abusite | Entrepreneur | Activist | Humanitarian | All Inquiries to info@theabusites.com. SMS/WhatsApp +2349015751816

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