By Adedokun Seyi
A Chat Room has been created as another section in the University of Ibadan Central Library – Kenneth Dike Library (KDL). Inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka on January 31, 2019, it’s a place where library utilizers, after rigorous reading, can relax, chat and watch the televised news, as its coevality is in line with this age.
Being the first Chat Room in the library of any Nigerian University, it has also mount the beginning of every day library service which was commissioned by the Vice Chancellor in the 2018 to enhance overnight reading for students.
While appreciating the the set of people that built the library in 1953, Professor Olayinka said that “things are fast changing, and since this is a digital age in which information has gone electronic, UI has decided to swim with the tide by providing modern facilities that can attract the students to the library”, adding that “after a rigorous academic reading in the library, our students can come to this Chat Room to relax, interact and unwind. One can also prepare for an interview here”.
He reiterated the commitment of his administration as he had done in the past that his “management shall continue to provide every facility that can make learning more enjoyable”.
Dr. Mrs. Helen Olubukola Komolafe-Opadeji who is the University’s Librarian applauded the Vice Chancellor for the regular support with which the library is fast keeping pace with modernity. She had earlier expatiated the effect of the outdated library saying “it is no longer the library of the future”. She said it is almost impossible to keep young adults in a place called library without talking to one another.
“Technology has not really helped in retaining users in the building called library, rather, it literally drives users away from the physical library“, stressing that academic libraries in the developed countries have been finding means of courting the friendship of library users by developing different zones including silent and noisy zones, she continues, adding that “the quiet zones like the Post Graduate Reading Room is for serious academic work with very minimal interactions amongst readers while the noisy zones are spaces dedicated to group or collaborative work, socializing and relaxation”.
