Nlbn:Nigerian National Library It is a part of the Federal Ministry of Education of Nigeria and is responsible for collecting, preserving and providing users with access to books, magazines and various forms of information and knowledge carriers, ensuring national bibliographic control and worldwide access to publications.

The National Library of Nigeria ( The National Library of Nigeria establishes and maintains the National Library of Nigeria; ensures the high standard of services to be provided by the National Library; collects, maintains and expands books, periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers, maps, scores, films, audio recordings, etc. in order to maintain the high standard of the Library; establishes branch libraries of the National Library of Nigeria in all states of the Federation The library facilities are fully utilized in accordance with the decisions of the Board of Directors; makes appropriate arrangements for the exchange of materials, publication of catalogs and indexes, and use of the library by related institutions; makes recommendations on the development and arrangement of libraries at all levels of government; is responsible for the development and editing of the Nigerian National Bibliography and bibliographic services.

The idea of the Nigerian National Library first arose in 1940. 1953 UNESCO held a seminar in Ibadan and recommended to the federal government to establish a public library service commission. 1956 the government accepted the proposal of Mr. Obol Nwikina to establish a national library in 1955. In 1959 the West African Library Association proposed the establishment of a Library Advisory Committee to advise the government on the establishment of the Nigerian National Library.

Mr. Rogers, who later became the Director of the American Medical Library, came to Nigeria to advise the government on improvements to the Lagos Regional Library services; in 1961 he submitted a report to the government advocating the establishment of a national library that would both serve the government and act as a national bibliographic center. In July of that year, the Cabinet approved the proposal. In August 1963, the library became a full-fledged team under the Ministry of Information, and between 1963 and 1964, 16 librarians and 7 management staff were recruited. The Library was officially opened on November 6, 1964, under the auspices of the Minister of Information, with a collection of 15,000 volumes, 1,000 periodicals, and 300 microfilms. In 1966, Philip Laporte, the last expert and consultant from the Ford Foundation, became director of the National Library of Nigeria.

The first local librarian was Dr. Price Agee, appointed in 1971, during whose tenure the Library was transferred from the Federal Department of Information to the Federal Department of Education in 1979. After Dr. Agui's retirement, M'Azu Wali served as director from 1986-1991, and in 1991 the Nigerian National Library was granted autonomy. The current Director, Ms. O.O. Omolayole, arrived in September 1999 and assumed her duties on February 21, 2000. After 38 years of changes, the National Library of Nigeria has been institutionalized and given the fundamental guarantee of its existence. It is now working to fulfill its mission of building the country's historical, intellectual and academic database.

The Board of Trustees of the National Library was established as an independent body by a 1964 law. It was not appointed before the military takeover on January 15, 1966, and was established in 1966 with Hausen Wright as chairman and Leidan Zulu as secretary, and held its first meeting on April 13-14. In accordance with the military government's policy, a method of managing the National Library was developed, and on May 2, 1970, the government issued a decree for the National Library Board (Decree No. 29 of 1970), some of the provisions of which were amended in 1979 and 1987, ordering the Nigerian National Library to perform certain duties as a representative of the state.

The collection contains United Nations publications (35,369 volumes); 1,054,000 volumes of books and journals; 29,826 current titles; 113 manuscripts; 88 degrees; 18,250 government documents; 11,626 maps; 4,553 microforms; 16/35mm 324 pieces of film; 100,000 pieces of audio-visual materials; 78 pieces of audio recordings; 4 CD-ROMs; 11,773 pieces of single-volume books.