The National Library Gombe is a branch of the National Library of Nigeria. It was established at Gombe in 2008, where it started at a temporary site and moved to a permanent site in 2017. It is located near the Gombe International Hotel, Tumfure.
Entrance
The magnificent building stands out amongst other branches, said Abubakar Yakubu, the Chief Librarian and Head of the Branch.
The library has about 18 staff members, including cleaners and securities.
Premises
Apart from being a reference centre like other national library branches, the Gombe National Library also offers numerous services. It has several rooms available for recreational activities.
Office of the Chief Librarian
The double-winged one-storey building also keeps the main library building apart from the other activity centres to ensure a serene environment for its readers.
Reception
The frequency of visitors in the library per week is 40–50. The National Library does not lend books to individuals but to corporate organisations.
The building comprises of:
- 2 Library rooms
- 4 Offices
- 4 Multipurpose halls
- 1 Exhibition Gallery
- 30 Conveniences
Exhibition hall
Aerial view of the exhibition hall
The book section of the library is classified into the following sections:
- Circulation section
- Serial section
- Reserved section
- Reference section
A section of the library
While the main library occupies one wing of the building, the other wing contains offices, multipurpose halls and inconveniences.
The multipurpose halls are used to host reading clubs, readership campaigns and seminars. They are also rented out at a fee for personal events including weddings.
One of the multipurpose halls
Functions and Services of Gombe National Library
- It serves as a reference centre where readers can consult books that are normally not available at public libraries.
- It serves as a centre where recreational activities, including book events, entertainment, and art exhibitions, take place.
- Legal deposit: The library serves as a place where individuals or corporate authors submit copies of their publications.
- Issuance of ISBN and ISSN: The library issues International Standard Book Numbers and International Standard Serial Numbers.
- Readership Promotion Campaign: Campaigns are carried out to address the dearth of reading culture either by inviting people or visiting them at schools, hospitals, prisons, motor parks, hard-to-reach communities, etc.
- Souvenir: The library can also stand as evidence in a court of law with deposited works for authors during court cases.
- Classification and cataloguing of books.
- Other services include research, collaboration with state libraries to carry out events or establish relevant centres and providing schools with books based on requests.
Corridor
Convenience
Fire extinguisher
Gombe National Library is also open to partnership and business opportunities for organisations willing to rent offices or host external examination centres like the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) exams.
