LIBRARIES PROVIDE ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Joash S. Aminga
People often hear more and more that it is necessary to have information to make
informed decisions. Libraries all over the world support organizational activities
besides allowing individuals to develop skills in searching for information. This
calls for organized collections that enable problem solving and active approaches
to learning. Libraries form vital points in the worlds systems of communication
and information. Such is through information resources in various media and
knowledge that has been accumulated through the ages and times.
Libraries large or small, like hurches, Synagogues and all other places of
worship, have norms and regulations that satisfy information seeking users. This
re!uires that all services provided in libraries are user"centered, leading to
ac!uiring a variety of resources and possible materials that provide !uality
information.
Library professionals need to understand the need and purpose for setting
regulations in promoting access to information from their libraries. In Readers
Corner- Literary discourse -Saturday Nation April 19, 2014, Triza Atieno di!!ers
"it #ric Sinda$i in is $la%e !or ars li$rary re&ulations !or 'enya(s poor
readin& culture) Libraries only support and compliment personal interests and
continuous search for information motivates users to search for more and more
information knowing that these libraries have rare resources that are shared among
each other and therefore control measures are necessary to maintain standards.
#ven though Sindabi believes that stringent conditions set by libraries stifle our
reading culture, he overlooks his own sentiments that a good reading culture
contributes to higher standards in various sectors.
$n my view, passion and untested values are what Sindabi needs to bring out as
aspects that have let professionals adopt approaches that are self regulating in
creating uniformity of standards as guiding tools. Poor funding of libraries is
actually a contributing factor towards library rules and regulations as control
measures for offering services. Lack of ade!uate resources that can satisfy the
needs of library users leads to positive resource sharing where other information
users may wish to borrow same materials as others% lacking a timeline will
therefore mean borrowers retaining resources for as long as they wish while others
will be searching and waiting for the same endlessly. Public funded libraries in
departments rarely charge any fines yet they have little to show for any increased
reading culture. The golden rule in Libraries is &uniformity'.
(ne of the main reasons for poor use of our libraries is in"accessibility of a variety
of information and lack of functional retrieval systems since libraries are only one
such systems that provides access to information and is a place where information
can be shared.
The )riter is a Ph* student in,
Communication and Ino!mation Sci"nc"s