UNIVERSITY OF ILORINPOSTGRADUATE SCHOOLLIBRARY ORIENTATION FOR POSTGRADUATE

STUDENTS 

READERS’ SERVICES

INTRODUCTION

- Readers’ Services is one of the two divisions in any organized library.

- The other division is the Technical Services.- Each of the two divisions is made up of some

sections.- Under the Readers’ Services are Circulation

and Reference sections, while under the Technical Services are Acquisitions, Serials and Cataloguing and Classification sections.

CIRCULATION

- All activities of the library are performed for the purpose of serving the user, but it is in the Readers’ Services division that the public is served directly.

- Activities in circulation involve assistance to users on how to use the catalogue.

- Charging and discharging books.- Maintaining borrowers’ records

Keeping statistics - of use of stock No of books borrowed on daily basis No of books consulted on daily basis No of users within a given period - Collection of files from defaulters- Formulating policies and procedures for all these

activities.- Registration of users.

USER REGISTRATION

- It is a routine exercise in libraries to allow identification of those who have the right to use the library.

- Non-registered user may be barred from the library.

- It is to identify those who could borrow from the library.

- To facilitate the issuance of letters of introduction to other libraries.

 

PROCEDURE FOR REGISTRATION 

- Payment of a registration fee of N500 into the library’s bank account.

- Submission of two (2) coloured passport photograph.

- Two cards and a form are to be filled with all the particulars of the user.

- Library cards must be renewed every session, and they are not transferable.

- On registration a user will be issued a copy of the library guide.

LENDING SERVICE

- It is the act of allowing a user to borrow materials out of the library.

- It allows the borrower the convenience of using the borrowed materials wherever and whenever he desires.

- Only books that go in Circulation can be borrowed while those that do not are referred to as reference.

- Reserved books can also be used in-house but such materials must be registered with the circulation staff.

 

CHARGING SYSTEM

- Is the system a library adopts in charging out books to users.

- There are different types such as Newark, Detroit, Browne, Dickman and Gaylord.

- Newark is in use at Unilorin library.

LENDING PROCEDURE - After a user has picked a book he wants to

borrow, this is taken to the circulation counter.

- There a set of triplicate slips – white, yellow and pink is given to the borrower to fill.

- The book to be borrowed is stamped the due date and the borrower goes with it, while the slips are filed.

- When the books are returned, the three slip are withdrawn and the pink one is given to the user as proof of having returned the book.

 

BORROWING PERIOD

- Graduate students are allowed to borrow for a period of four weeks.

- There is an opportunity for renewal for another four weeks.

- The number of books allowed for a graduate is four.

OVERDUE NOTICES AND FINES

- Overdue notices are usually sent to a defaulter

- Late return of borrowed books attracts a fine of N20 per day for the first fifteen days and N30 per day thereafter.

- The fine is not meant to be a punitive measure but a means of encouraging early return of books.

RESERVE COLLECTION

- This collection contains books that are not borrowed out of the library but are consulted through permission from the circulation staff.

- For a user to use such materials, he must enter the book in the register and drop his library card.

- The concept of reserve collection is to enable a large number of users have the opportunity of using a book that is in high demand but of limited quantity.

INTER-LIBRARY LOAN

- No library can acquire every available material

- A user’s request for a non-available material may be met by obtaining it from another library.

- Such materials can be books, journals, documents or rare books.

REFERENCE

- This is the second section under Readers’ Services Division.

- It is the section that assists users by answering queries, directing users to sources where they can find information etc.

- Materials in this section are never borrowed out but are used in-house.

- Examples of such materials include – dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, abstracts, indexes, bibliographies etc.