LIBRARY IN HIGHER EDUCATION AS AN ECONOMIC ENGINE

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Introduction

Development has to do with qualitative and sometimes quantitative changes in the life of a people or an individual. At the national level, there is an improvement in the general well-being of the people, to firm signify increase output and profit while at the individual level, development implies increased skill and capacity, self-discipline, greater freedom, responsibility, and material well-being. Economic development therefore, is about positioning the economy on a higher growth trajectory that is to say economic development is less uniquely a function of market forces; it is the product of long-term investments in the generation of new ideas, knowledge transfer, and infrastructure, and it depends on functioning of social and economic institutions and on cooperation between the public sector and private enterprise. Economic development requires collective action and large-scale, long-horizon investment. Economic development addresses the fundamental conditions necessary for the microeconomic functioning of the economy. It is within the purview of government (Streeten 1994). However, the achievement of economic development will be feasible provided all the essential infrastructures, including libraries, other information agencies and information professionals are given the desired attention to contribute their quota in that direction (Onah et al, 2015). Libraries have rightfully staked their claim as gateways to participation in society through lifelong learning and information. Libraries have long been crowned knowledge institutions as they provide the public with spaces for information and learning. And this space is accessible to all groups of society, regardless of gender, age and ethnic affiliation (IFLA, 2003). This role of the library must be seen against the backdrop of the fact that the development of the society and individuals can only be attained through the ability of well-informed citizens to exercise their democratic rights and to play an active role in society (Drotner, 2005). Moreover, Information is a vital tool to development. For any nation to develop, it needs to have and provide relevant, updated and adequate information on food security, democracy, health, education, gender equality etc. Libraries can provide such access to information that would enable people lead gainful lives as they are specialized at acquiring, organizing, preserving and disseminating materials irrespective of the form in which it is packaged in such a way that when it is needed it can be found and put to use (Karki 2006).