Friday 29 April 2011

Librarians' Registration Council of Nigeria Strategic Plan (2010-2013)

Mission Statement
To pursue the attainment of professional excellence, by determining who librarians are, the standard of knowledge and skills required for registration, practice and maintenance of professional discipline.

Vision Statement
To be a world-class regulatory body for the ultimate improvement of library and information practice in Nigeria.

Core Values
• Diligence
• Integrity
• Professionalism in service delivery
• Competence
• Dynamism
Acronym: PI-DDC

LRCN: 2010 – 2013, Goals, Objectives and Initiatives

Goal 1: Provide suitable premises and a well-equipped secretariat for the operations and programme work of LRCN

Building, Council Membership, Staffing and Operations

1) Create a sound financial base for LRCN by developing a financial plan for operational costs and capital expenditure based on expected income and projections for 2010 to 2012

Strategic Steps

a. Prepare and defend budget for 2010
b. Perform a quarterly review of income and expenditure to ensure that spending targets are being met by the end of each quarter
c. Leverage on current resources to achieve optimum output

2) Create an organizational structure that builds upon a strong internal structure, provides leadership, encourages development of staff, innovation, and creativity

Strategic Steps

a. Hire and equip a suitable secretariat by 2010 
b. Identify staffing needs and recruit core staff by the end of 4th  quarter, 2010
c. Set up automated systems and business processes to enhance the operations and administration of LRCN by 2011
d. Organise orientation for LRCN staff upon  being hired by 1st quarter of  2011 (initial orientation and subsequent ones on need basis)
e. Initiate and effectively maintain a coaching/mentoring programme for LRCN staff by 2012
f. Design, implement and review capacity building programme for all categories of LRCN staff by 2011
g. Put in place effective performance management programme and compensate/reward staff based on performance by 2011

3) Constitute and develop functionality of Council membership

Strategic Steps

a) Identify and constitute membership of the Council in line with the provisions of the Decree by 2010
b) Develop an annual work programme for Council members that is driven by and supports LRCN Strategic Plan by June 2011
c) Do an annual review of accomplishments of the Council and develop directions for the next year December 2011
d) Perform an annual review of the strategic plan and update it as required by the end of 2nd week of December
e) Review LRCN Act and make recommendations by the end of 2nd week of December 2011

Minimum standards, knowledge and skills


Goal 2: Provide guidelines for determining the minimum qualifications, standards and skills of librarians

1. Review, identify and bridge gaps in the knowledge and skills content of courses offered by library and information institutions

Strategic Steps

a. Liaise with all Library and Information schools/institutions in Nigeria and collect details of their course/programme contents by 2011
b. Review contents of current courses/programmes to align with the current and future needs of Library and Information practice 2011
c. Develop partnership with NUC and other relevant bodies to ensure proper accreditation of LIS courses by 2011
d. Review nomenclature of and qualifications awarded to librarians by June 2012

2. Develop and run a mandatory continuous professional development programme for librarians by the end of 2011

Strategic Steps

a. Set-up guidelines for post qualification training of Librarians by the end of  2011
b. Set up facilities, systems, learning modules and instructors/facilitators for mandatory continuous professional development programmes by the end of April 2012
c. Publicise and enrol candidates for the different programmes by the end of December 2011

3. Develop and run relevant  certification programmes by April 2012

Strategic Steps

a. Design and develop library and information special skills acquisition programmes in response to changes in the national and international socio-economic, political, educational and technological scenes by 2012
b. Deliver programmes in that regard leading to approved certification qualifications  by end 2013
c. Where necessary, explore and affiliate such specialised skills certification programmes with international Library and Information certification programme as may be offered by world renowned institutions and allied professional bodies by December 2013

Register of Librarians

Goal 3: Establish and maintain a register of chartered librarians

1. Register and induct individuals certified as librarians by July 2011

Strategic Steps

a. Develop and implement guidelines for the certification of librarians by March 2011
b. Write and publish detailed guidelines by July 2011
c. Clear backlog and register qualified applicants by July 2011
d. Update the register of Chartered Librarians and develop a databank of librarians based on continuous certification of members by end 2010
e. Induct newly chartered librarians by July 2011
f. Provide a professional seal to chartered librarians by July 2011
g. Set up statutory dates for adverts, deadlines and decisions for new applications by July 2011

Professional ethics and conduct

Goal 4: Establish a code of professional ethics and conduct

1. Set-up a code of professional ethics and conduct by end of  2011

Strategic Steps

a. Establish a Librarians’ Disciplinary Committee
b. Set up a Librarians’ Investigating Panel
c. Establish a procedure for registering complaints and conducting investigations
d. Determine disciplinary action in line with provisions of the Decree
e. Write-up, publish and circulate code of conduct
Communications strategy

Goal 5: Provide an effective strategy for internal and external communication to promote the LRCN and its mission

Internal

1. Develop regular communications programmes and procedures for chartered members that are issue-oriented, and designed to provide efficient and effective information and knowledge

a. Develop and distribute a member newsletter/bulletin that is published 4 times per year by March 2011
b. Develop an online forum which will serve as a networking tool for Chartered Librarians by June 2011
c. Advise the membership of member promotions, appointments, awards, honours etc.
d. Develop an electronic quick-survey of member opinion using e-mail by September 2011

External

1. Identify stakeholder audiences (e.g. Affiliates, other associations, vendors, exhibitors, etc.) and establish baseline data on their communication patterns with the Council by end 2010
2. Develop tools (website etc) to deliver communications about the Council’s work and to gather information from various audiences by July 2011.

                                         
Photos from the Stragetic Plan Workshop 

 
The Registrar/CEO, Ms. Victoria Okojie  giving her opening remark





A cross section of participants



Group photograph of participants at the workshop




Tuesday 5 April 2011

LRCN Logo Design Competition

To re-position the Council and boost its image the management of LRCN has approved that the LRCN logo should be re-designed through a competitive process. The new logo is expected to reflect the overall goals and identity of the Council. The design should be simple but also unique and distinct.

The successful entry will also become the sole property of the Council and its trademark which will be used on documents and products.

ELIGIBILITY

The logo competition is open to staff of the Council, Librarians and other interested participants

GUIDELINES
  • Entry must reflect the overall  goals and mandates of the Council (The LRCN mandates can be viewed in the LRCN Decree on the NLA website:www.nla-ng.org - pdf format)
  • The design must be the original work of the author
  • The entry must be submitted in soft copy in any of the following formats:
    • Ms. Word
    • Macromedia Corel Draw
    • PDF
  • Multiple entries are not allowed
  • Uncompleted submission will be disqualified.
  • The graphic design softcopy should be accompanied with the entry form.
PRIZE

The winner of the competition will take home a brand new LCD 32” Television.

SUBMISSION
  • All entries should reach the LRCN on or before Sunday, 15 May, 2011 by midnight.
  • Late entries will not be accepted.
  • Entries should be forwarded to: lrcn.info@yahoo.com

Friday 1 April 2011

LRCN Capacity Building for Teacher-Librarians in South-West Zone

In response to the Honourable Minister of Education one year strategy plan on quality assurance, the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) in collaboration with the National Library of Nigeria (NLN) held the second in series of capacity building for teacher-librarians in the South West geo-political zone from 22 to 24 March, 2011 at the Oyo State Library Board, Dugbe, Ibadan, Oyo State. The workshop theme was “Functional Approach to Library Development and Management for Effective Learning in Nigerian Schools”

The aim of the workshop was to equip teacher-librarians with the essential knowledge, ideas and information literacy/ICTs skills for managing a standard school library in the information age.

In attendance were participants from states within the geo-political zone, which included teacherlibrarians from public and private schools as well as SUBEB coordinators.

A total of ten papers were presented which focus on:
  • Overview of modern library management
  • Library instruction as a tool for effective utilization of information resources
  • Readership promotion campaign
  • ICTs: library management software applications and Internet
  • Organization of knowledge
  • The workshop had practical and interactive sessions