EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT HAZARD ON LIBRARY MATERIALS IN ARID ZONEREGION OF NIGERIA: WITH REFERENCE TO CENTRE FOR ARID ZONE STUDIES LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF MAIDUGURI BORNO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study is an attempt to see the effect of environmental condition on library materials in Centre for Arid Zone Studies Library in University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. The study identify the preservation methods use in the library, the environmental condition of the zone and the mandate background of the Centre. The study based its discussion at Kemorn (1996) categorization of conservation, which stated that preservation is stabilizing the environment which library material are kept. This include controlling excessive temperature relative humidity and instituting good housekeeping practice which is the aspect of the study. The primary information was collected through documentary sources, observation and interview. Based on the discussion, face to face observation, its reveal that the library has no preservation policy programmes, the method used for preservation of information in the library is inadequate and personnel need to be retained, storage facilities should be provided for maps and non-print materials, good library temperature control measure should be provided and every 5% of research funding of the Centre be set aside for library preservation development, has important of preservation is basically tied to information retrieval for both present and past knowledge.