The International Jo um a f o f Universaf Multitfiscijplinarg Educational Research Foundation - VoC. 5 , No. 1 2 0 2 0
GATHERING DATA AND WRITING LIBRARY 
ANNUAL REPORT: AN OVERVIEW
By
AJALA, Emmanuel Babatunde PhD 
2OJO, Reuben Abiodun
1Glorious Vision University Ogwa Edo State Nigeria 
2Kenneth Dike Library, University o f Ibadan, Ibadan. Nigeria
A bstract
All university libraries, in order to support the university's curriculum; to 
support the research o f  the university faculty and students; and for  planning 
purposes, writes an annual report. This annual report gives details about the 
activities o f  the library in terms of, achievements (Success Stories), key statistics 
to back up claims, staff matters, challenges, among others, during the year under 
review. It is amazing that in practice this library culture is being eroded in new 
generation librarianship due to the fact that in the library school this practice is 
neither taught nor laid emphasis upon again while many professionals do not 
know how to gather the necessary data and write useful library report. Upon this 
backdrop this paper presented detail data gathering method for  useful annual 
report writing.
4
The study adopted a narrative methodology while in the analysis o f  the study the 
data to be generated for library report was described to be the core functions o f  the 
university. The university library (i.e. Kenneth Dike Library, University o f  
Ibadan), over years, has been living up to expectation in this direction o f  
generating these data. The data is to be used to write reports expected to highlight 
the activities o f  the entire university library system that occurred during the year 
under review. This strategic responsibility is a germane one fo r  the university 
library in academic community, therefore, cannot be over emphasized. Some o f  
the data were highlighted as Access and Collection Development (ACD); 
Community Engagement; Information Services regardless o f  their geographical 
locations; and strategic Academic Role. Suggested stages involved generally in 
report ivriting information flow  includes: Set sectional/units' goals fo r  the year 
and give brief description o f  how to achieve it; Make presentation at 
divisional/sectional/unit level, as the case may be, to review the set 
g oa ls /ob jec tiv es  before  com m encin g im plem en tation ; C om m ence  
implementation and meet, fortnightly/ monthly to present progress report, 
backed up with statistics; Hold quarterly meetings to present quarterly report o f
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activities; At the end o f  the fourth quarter (i.e., July to September), collate the 
reports o f  the four (4) quarters and generate your annual report based on the 
statistics you have at your disposal; Call library management meeting fo r  final 
presentation ofsections/units' reports by the divisional heads; Thef inal collation 
o f  the reports is done by the administrative officer o f  the library who is the 
secretary at the library management meeting; The university librarian writes 
foreword and a covering memo attached to the report fo r  onward submission to 
the university management. While the suggested outline fo r  writing library 
annual reports includes: Introduction; State the major activities being carried 
out in the sections/units; StaffA ffairs; State the set goals for the year as well as 
how to achieve it; Data presentation and analysis on quarterly basis and ensure 
that success stories are highlighted; Present challenges which are militating 
against the success o f  sections and units; Summary and recommendations.
Annual report is an important document fo r  research, planning and policy 
formulation fo r  library and the university.
K eyw ords: Annual report, Collection development, Community engagement, 
Academic role.
INTRODUCTION
University Libraries exist to serve two complementary purposes, namely: to 
support the university's curriculum, and to support the research of the university 
faculty and students. In order to be successful in our contemporary globalised, 
information-saturated world, students and researchers must not only acquire 
content knowledge in their selected disciplines but also develop their abilities to 
find, evaluate, and use information efficiently and ethically. Kenneth Dike Library 
has been helping students and researchers to develop these research and 
information literacy (IL) competencies through the provision of a variety of 
research contents and instructional services. Working with both individuals and 
groups has been given topmost priority so that students and researchers can 
develop the lifelong learning skills that are critical to success, not only in their 
academic pursuits but professional and personal lives. In our efforts to support 
teaching, learning, and research (TLR) initiative of the University of Ibadan, library 
uses a variety of strategies in terms of packaging of contents and instructional 
delivery platforms.
The Library, being the heart of the University, supports the University in its 
mission, "to advance learning and knowledge by linking theory and practice in all 
disciplines, and to prepare students for lifelong learning, leadership and careers in 
a changing multicultural world." Librarians are educators with a wide range of
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The International Journal o f Universal M ultidisciplinary Educational Research Foundation - Vol. 5 , No. 1 2 0 2 0
specialisations; as such they help students and researchers in the discovery, 
evaluation, and teach them how to critically and ethically use information 
resourcesln presenting Library's annual report, we do not have to be economical 
with information because our strength lies in it. The reason for this is not farfetched 
because some erroneously assume that libraries and staff rendering services there 
have become less relevant in the digital age, losing sight of the fact that they are 
needed now more than ever before. Librariansare in charge of, not only selecting 
the digital scholarly resources for students and faculty members for teaching, 
learning, and research (TLR) but also teach them how to access and effectively use 
these tools. For example, when students or researchers approach the librarianswith 
advanced research questions, they assist them to refine their focus, determine 
which kinds of information formats are appropriate to their needs, select search 
tools, refine search results, and evaluate the suitability of materials found for their 
specific research topics. On this note, the relevance of libraries and those rendering 
services there in the information age cannot be over emphasized.Hence, this annual 
report gives details about the activities of the library in terms of, achievements 
(Success Stories), key statistics to back up claims, staff matters, challenges, among 
others, during the year under review( Indicate the year).
However it is amazing that in practice this library culture is being eroded in this 
new generation librarianship due to the fact that in the library school this practice is 
neither taught nor laid emphasis upon again while many professional do not know 
how to gather the necessary data and write a useful library report. Upon this 
backdrop this paper presented the detail data gathering method for useful annual 
report writing.The study adopted a narrative methodology while in the analysis of 
the study the data to be generated for library report was described to be the core 
functions of the university.
------- -- ---------l
KENNETH DIKE LIBRARY WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN 
ACADEMIC COMMUNITY, WHAT ROLE?
The Kenneth Dike Library, Universityof Ibadan supports the vision and 
mission of the University through embracing the traditional values of higher 
education adapted for the global community in the 21st century. Kenneth Dike 
Library, over the years, has been building its collections and provides access to 
information and services to support teaching, learning, research (TLR) and creative 
endeavours of the University of Ibadan. The purpose of establishing academic 
Libraries within the University framework is to identify, acquire, organize, store, 
and provide on demand access to the available intellectual and research products 
worldwide to faculties and students, as well as to the greater community of learners 
beyond the University community. Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan, 
over the year, has been living up to expectation in this direction. The strategic
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responsibilities of the Kenneth Dike Library to the University of Ibadan academic 
community, therefore, cannot be over emphasized. Some of these are hereby 
highlighted:
* Access and Collection Development (ACD): Provision of greater access to 
digital collections while continuing to build and improve access to collections in 
all formats to meet the research and teaching needs of the university.
* Community Engagement: Be a comprehensive resource center for the 
documentation, investigation, and interpretation of the complex realities of the 
University and provide an international focal point for the students and 
researchers.
* Services: Actively foster user-focused environment committed to identifying 
and delivering information resources and services that meet or exceed users' 
expectations, regardless of their geographical locations..
* Academic Role: Conscious and strategic efforts thatensure the University of 
Ibadan graduates information literate students through information literacy 
programme.
Central to the foregoing is its ability to create an educational environment that 
encourages the full personal development of those it serves. Also, students are 
being assisted in learning about and meeting the intellectual and ethical challenges 
of responsible citizenship and a full and productive life through opportunities to 
acquire the knowledge and experiences that enhance critical thinking, leadership 
skills, aesthetic sensitivity, and social integrity.
The community of users of the Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan is 
identified as: undergraduate and post graduate students, faculty, staff, and visitors.
GATHERING DATA AND WRITING LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORT: AN 
OVERVIEW
* Each year, the management of the university makes a request through memo to 
all entities in the university community to submit annual reports which will 
detail activities being performed backed up with statistics to the management. 
The University of Ibadan Library system had been responding accordingly in 
the past years. The period the report will cover starts from October the previous 
year to September of the current year). There are three quarters in a year and 
this can be broken down as follows: October to December, January to March,
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April to June and July to September, making four (4) quarters. The report is 
expected to highlight the activities of the entire university library system that 
occurred during the year under review. The coordination of data collections is 
done by the divisional heads for presentation to the library management by 
heads of the divisions. In the event that the affected sections/units have direct 
link with the office of the university librarian, the coordination • and 
presentation of such reports are done by the affected sectional heads to the 
university librarian. FIG. I gives an overview of the University of Ibadan 
Library System Report Writing Information Flow Organogram (UILSRWIFO). 
The components of UILSRWIF are hereby highlighted:
COMPONENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY SYSTEM 
INFORMATION FLOW ORGANOGRAM (CUILSIFO)
These can be grouped under the following headings:
* The University Librarian
* The Library Management
* The Deputy University Librarian, heading various divisions including Medical 
Librarian.
* Heads of Sections/ Units including Faculty Librarians
* The Admin & Account Officer
At this point, the University of Ibadan Library System's Report Writing 
Information Flow (UILSRWIF) will be presented. UILSRWIF as presented in FIG. 1 
gives us a holistic view of how the Kenneth Dike Library is structured in terms of 
information flow.
V.
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Fig.lU nw ersity o f  Ibadan Library System Report Writing Information Floiv 
(UILSRWIF) Source: (Self-Designed UILSRWIF: Ojo&Ajala, 2018).
Fig.l shows self-designed the University of Ibadan Library System Report 
Writing Information Flow (UILSRWIF). In respect of writing annual report, data 
requirements are captured based on the activities being performed by staff of:
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Sections, Faculties and the affected Units. Data Collections take backtracking 
approach, that is, subordinate gathers and passes data to the superior officers ( in 
this case, divisional heads). The final collations are done by office of divisional 
heads, the outcome of which will be presented to the management at which point 
the final collation is done by the admin officer the outcome of which is finally 
presented to the University librarian. The University Librarian will now write the 
foreword and a covering memo for onward submission to the University 
management where collation is done for all entities on campus. This leads to briefly 
looking at the general overview of activities in some sections and units of the 
library.
SUGGESTED STAGES INVOLVED IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY
SYSTEM'S REPORT WRITING INFORMATION FLOW(UILSRWIF).
STEP 1: Set sectional/units' goals for the year and give brief description of how
to achieve it.
STEP 2: Make presentation at divisional/sectional/unit level, as the case may
be, to review the set goals/objectives before com m encing 
implementation.
STEP 3: Commence implementation and meet, fortnightly/ monthly to present 
progress report, backed up with statistics, to ensure that goals and 
objectives are met.
STEP 4: Hold quarterly meetings to present quarterly report of activities, the 
report of activities must be presented with statistics in tables. This must 
be held four (4) times before the end of academic year (i.e, October to 
September).
NOTE: There are four (4) quarters in one (1) academic calendar year: October 
C to December, January to March, April to June, & July to September.
STEP 5: At the end of the fourth quarter (i.e., July to September), collate the 
reports of the four (4) quarters and generate your annual report based 
on the statistics you have at your disposal.
NOTE: For the sections under a division, your reports should be submitted to 
your divisional heads for presentation at the library management meeting 
before submitting same to the office o f  the university librarian.
STEP 6: Call library m anagement m eeting for final presentation of
sections/units' reports by the divisional heads.
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STEP 7: The final collation of the reports is done by the administrative officer of
the library who is the secretary at the library management meeting.
STEP 8: The university librarian writes foreword and a covering memo
attached to the report for onward submission to the university 
management.
SOME SECTIONS/UNITS WITH THEIR DATA REQUIREMENTS FOR 
WRITING REPORTS.
Highlighted below are samples of data requirements of some sections and units 
of the library based on the perceived activities being performed when writing 
annual report.
Circulations Reports:
Brief introduction of operations and services of the section should be stated. 
Under this the following items should be discussed:
In the circulation section, access services are provided, primarily to facilitate 
physical access of library materials for our users via the circulation desk, book 
shelves and Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). Some of the activities of this 
section that can be used as data requirements for generating report include:
* Patrons' Registration.
* Checking in and out of library materials,
* Handling fees, fines, and overdue notices and
* Sundry activities during the year under review(shelf reading, shelf 
m aintenance and active participation during program m es/resource 
accreditation in the year under review.
* Provision of access to miscellaneous services such as "lost and found" and 
related allied services, e.g security
Patrons' Registration: Here statistics of library registered members should be 
stated. Using the example bellow:
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T ab lel: Number of Library registered users
Quarter User Category Total no of 
Academic Senior Undergraduate PG Junior registered 
Staff Staff Students Staff users for 
the year 
under -  
review.
1st 3 0 9 0 1 32
2nd 9 2 162 2 6 227
3rd 10 12 85 3 2 217
4® 3 5 103 1 1 209
Total 25 19 359 6 10 685
Table 2: Materials added to the Library Collections
M ateria l Type 1st Q u arter 2 "d Q u arter 3 rd Q u arter 4 thQ u arter Total o f  
m aterials  
added  to the  
co lle ctio n s
B o o k s 3 2 0 1 6 6 2 0 0 - 6 8 6
Jo u rn als 5 0 0 4 0 0 - - 9 0 0
R e fe re n ce 6 0 3 4 - - 9 4
M aterials
M u ltim ed ia , 3 4 - - 7
etc
Table 3: Use of resource: Total number of library materials consulted.
Resource Type Quarters Total
r 2nd 3rd 4th
Books 500 400 400 200 1500
Journals 200 230 200 23 653
Reference 25 26 50 50 151
Materials, etc
Internally generated revenue: Here all funds generated by the library from 
overdue fines, photocopy, bindery, Internet services, etc. are reported here. A table 
presenting funds generated by different sections and units should be depicted in 
the table on a quarterly basis.
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Table 4; Internally Generated Funds Collected through Circulation during the year  
under review
Sections/Units QUARTERS
Circulation 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Amount 
Generated  ̂N)
User 4,000,000.00 2 ,000 ,000.00 600,000.00 500,000.00 7,100,000.00
Registration
Package
Overdue Fines 100 ,000.00 80,000.00 50,000.00 50,000.00 280,000.00
Replacement 23,000.00 12,000.00 35,000.00
o f  Loss 
Materials
Replacement 50,000.00 - - - 50,000.00
o f  Cards
Cards issues to 100 ,000.00 - - 100 ,000.00
external users
Clearance o f 50,000.00 60,000.00 100 ,000.00 2 1 0 ,000.00
graduating
students
GRAND 4,323,000.00 2,152,000.00 650,000.00 650,000.00 7,775,000.00
TOTAL.
Acquisition/Ordering Section: The report of this section will include:
*  Acquisitions by purchase,
* Acquisition through donation,
* Total number of materials purchased for the year under review
* Amount spent on books and journals for the year under review, on quarterly 
basis
c  > \ 7 '
* Total number of materials added to the collection in the year under reviewand
* Materials acquired, processed and sent to cataloguing for processing during the 
year under review. All these must be presented in tables with statistics.
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Table 5: Acquisition by Purchase
INVOICE VENDOR DEPARTMENT TITLES VOLUMES TOTAL 
DATE AMOUNTHN)
20/03/2018 Rombic Chemistry 2 4 68 ,000 :00
Concepts
25/03/2018 Jadekat Computer 80 80 1.5
Ventures Science
29/03/2018 DASHDAAD Books 50 600 2 ,000 ,000.00
Books
Table 6: Acquisition by Donation
S/N DATE DONORS ITEM TITLES VOLUME
LOCATIONS
1 10/01/2018 Dr. X Political 1 1
Science
2 27/02/2018 Prof. Y Computer Sc. 5 5
Table 7: Materials labeled during the year under review
Item Type QUARTERS
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
New Books 209 300 400 400 1,309
Old Books 105 200 300 200 805
Total 314 500 700 600 2,114
C
CATALOGUING SECTION
The activities of this section include:
* Preparation of bibliographic details of library materials(Cataloguing) and
* Maintaining the integrity of library database.
Table 8: Materials catalogued, using different sources
Sources Used CIP LCOC ORIGINAL TOTAL
Titles 97 142 141 380
Volumes 156 209 214 579
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Systems Unit:
The activities of the systems unit should be reported here. These include: 
Information Technology applications and systems maintenance. For example: E- 
Resources: reports here include e-resources acquisitions and amount paid on 
subscription. (See Table below) Usage statistics should also be presented in 
another table.
Table 9: E-Resources Acquisitions
Item type Period of subscription Amount paid
R 4Life April 1 s', 2017 to March 31st 2018 $1000.00 
(N 898, 000.00)
Pr oquest June, 2016 to July, 2017 N8, 000,000.00
Ebrary June, 2016 to July, 2017 N 2000,000:00
Total
List of E-Resource Databases & Status
Table 10: IP Regulated
Databases Status
Proquest/ebrary Not working
Sciencedirect Not working
Jstor Working
Emerald Working
Springer Not working
Web of Science Working
\ /
Table 11: Access Combination
Databases Status
Hinari Working
Oare Working
Agora Working
Ardi Working
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Open Access (All Open for Access)
* ERIC
* Intechopen
* Bookboon
* Freefullpdf
* Ejournal -
i. Reference Section: reports on activities in post graduate libraries should be 
reported here. This report could include numbers of theses received, books 
acquired and usage statistics.
ii. Library organized workshops: workshop organized by the library should be 
reported here (if any).
5. Staff Affairs
* Professional
* Para-Professional
* Others
Although the library continues to improve and branch out with its resources 
and services, there is limit to how much we can continue to extend ourselves 
without increasing our staff. There is need to continue to examine our staff strength 
to improve our effectiveness and to improve efficiencies while at the same time 
working to obtain approval to fill necessary positions. The librarian to student ratio 
is 1.400. As at the last Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). computation, the 
number of professional staff who are supposed to be on ground is eighty seven (87). 
It is sad to report that only thirty (30) of us are currently on ground.
On this note, issues relating to staff should be discussed here under the 
following headings.
' . / i
* Staffing -total number of staff should be listed in tables based on categories of 
library staff. Previous year can be included in the table to compare whether 
there is increase or decrease in the number of staff.
* Staff development: here list of conferences, seminars and workshop attended 
by the staff should be reported. Note that only workshop and conferences 
sponsored by the university should be included.
* D iscipline staff members' attitude to work: this only reports staff attitude 
throughout the year whether it is satisfactory or not. Staff members that receive 
commendation should be reported here.
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*  Appointment and Promotions: New appointments and promotions should be 
reported here with the list of staff appointed or promoted.
* Confirmation of appointment: this should also be reported here.
* Notable events: any notable events during this period under review should be 
stated. For example, if the library or staff wins an award or grant.
6. Challenges: Challenges, holistically, should be looked at in the context of the 
entire University library system throughout the year under review.
SUGGESTED OUTLINE FOR WRITING LIBRARY ANNUAL REPORTS
Introduction
* State the major activities being carried out in the sections/ units
* Staff Affairs
* State the set goals for the year as well as how to achieve it.
* Data presentation and analysis on quarterly basis and ensure that success 
stories are highlighted.
* Present challenges which are militating against the success of sections and units 
CONCLUSION
Annual report is an important document useful for research, planning and 
policy formulation both in the library and in the university as a whole. It helps the 
library, the researcher and the university planners to have a glimpse of the activities 
of the university with facts and figure.
Summary and Recommendations
It must be noted that the overall summary as well as foreword of the entire 
reports can be added by the University Librarian after the management meeting 
where the reports are finally presented for approval.
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References
Budd, J. M. (1998). The Academic Library: Its Context, Its Purpose, and Its 
Operation. Englewood, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, pp. 30-31.
Curzon, S and Jennie, Q (2009). "Academic Libraries". Encyclopedia of Library and 
Information Sciences. doi:10.1081/E-ELIS3-120044525. Retrieved 10 September 
2013.
McCabe, G; Ruth J. P (1995). Academic Libraries: Their Rationale and Role in 
American Higher Education. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, pp. 
1-3.
Pezzi, B (2000). Massachusetts. Weigl Publishers.p. 15. ISBN 1-930954-35-2. 
Author's Brief
*Dr Emmanuel Babatunde Ajala has his background in science, Library Archival 
and Information Science and Informatics. He also possess an MPhil. degree in 
Media Anthropology. He is the current University Librarian of Glorious Vision 
University (The University of "The Apostolic Church" LAWNA Nigeria), Ogwa, 
Edo State. Nigeria.
2Mr. Reuben Abiodun Ojo has his background in Computer Science. He is a 
Principal Librarian at the Kenneth Dike Library University of Ibadan and at the 
same time a Ph.D student in Library and Information Science. He is currently the 
Systems Librarian in the same library.
A' 1 / \ /
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