Oladele, B. A.2018-10-112018-10-112004A paper presented at the African and Mid Eastern Section of Library of Congress, Washington, DC on the 5th February 2004. pp. 1-22ui_inpro_oladele_future_2004_02http://ir.library.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/2110InproceedingThe library as it is understood today is one of the legacies bequeathed to Sub-Sahara African countries at independence by the erstwhile colonial masters. Like many other infrastructures and facilities, the library has had its own share of the pervasive travails of development on the continent. This explains the lack luster impact of libraries on the development processes of most countries in regard to access and delivery of information. This state of affairs is analyzed against the backdrop of the general political and economic history of the continent and how the lack of policy synergy and in some cases frequent policy somersaults of government serve to undermine library growth and development. Efforts at remedying the situation are also discussed as well as pointing to future directions for developmentenOther