Society has become more stratified and polarized, while using the wealthy along with the poor, the educated and uneducated, getting limited cognitive skills wider apart in comparison with whenever within our history. During this length of growing stratification by earnings and talent, the library in educational institutions may functions as being a bridge relating to the entrenched social rods.
Reference libraries contain the longest history whatever the type of library. They existed moms and fathers of clay tablet and from such tablets, information was consulted and all of the concerns remains considered because the primitive forerunners of current library catalogues. Employing their beginnings in ancient occasions, the functions of libraries haven’t altered considerably. Nevertheless the format, quantity and content within the materials creating their stock along with the resultant services have progressively been transformed a lot they today access a network of sophisticated information sources. The main role within the library is educational which continues to be the attitude otherwise the realisation of reference librarians (Higgens, 1988).
Academic libraries are individuals made to meet general studies inside the undergraduate and graduate levels and that support their parent institutions in delivering their programmes by having an effective teaching and implementation of practical skills. Higgens (1988) defined an instructional library as that placed on help educational institutions above secondary level serving the teaching and research requirements of scholars, staff and researchers. Based on Harrods (2000) academic libraries are individuals found in universities, polytechnics, colleges and other institutions developing a part of or connected while using the educational facilities.
Reference Services inside the Fourah Bay College Library
Fourah Bay College library started in 1827. It’s offered at Fourah Bay College, College of Sierra Leone within the Michael Jollife Building that was named carrying out a late Mr. Michael Jollife, an expatriate who offered as College librarian from 1961-1970.
The first floor within the library houses the reception desk photocopying room issue desk Sierra Leone Collection (incorporating the Un Collection) the American Shelf General Reference Collection Cataloguing Department Acquisition Department Circulation Department along with the College Librarian’s office. The 2nd floor sports ths Textbook Collection. The Following floor provides the General Lending Collection.
The lower bottom floor houses the Bindery staff rooms and stores. The library has Professional, Para-professional along with other support. It uses the Dewey Decimal Classification Plan along with the Triplicate Issuing System with Card catalogue.
Fourah Bay College library is most likely the outstanding academic libraries in Sierra Leone established while using the mission statement “to produce a comprehensive selection of recorded information to help effective teaching, research and comprehending the Liberal Arts, Pure and Systems, Engineering and Technology, Social Sciences and Law and related fields to facilitate fast usage of information, and to optimize using collection by potential library users of Fourah Bay College along with other institutions.”
