- Readers’ Services is one of the two divisions in any organized library. - The other division is the Technical Services. - Each of the two divisions is made up of some sections. - Under the Readers’ Services are Circulation and Reference sections, while under the Technical Services are Acquisitions, Serials and Cataloguing and Classification sections.

- All activities of the library are performed for the purpose of serving the user, but it is in the Readers’ Services division that the public is served directly. - Activities in circulation involve assistance to users on how to use the catalogue. - Charging and discharging books. - Maintaining borrowers’ records Keeping statistics - of use of stock No of books borrowed on daily basis No of books consulted on daily basis No of users within a given period - Collection of files from defaulters - Formulating policies and procedures for all these activities. - Registration of users.

- It is a routine exercise in libraries to allow identification of those who have the right to use the library. - Non-registered user may be barred from the library. - It is to identify those who could borrow from the library. - To facilitate the issuance of letters of introduction to other libraries.

- Payment of a registration fee of N500 into the library’s bank account. - Submission of two (2) coloured passport photograph. - Two cards and a form are to be filled with all the particulars of the user. - Library cards must be renewed every session, and they are not transferable. - On registration a user will be issued a copy of the library guide.

- It is the act of allowing a user to borrow materials out of the library. - It allows the borrower the convenience of using the borrowed materials wherever and whenever he desires. - Only books that go in Circulation can be borrowed while those that do not are referred to as reference. - Reserved books can also be used in-house but such materials must be registered with the circulation staff.

- Is the system a library adopts in charging out books to users. - There are different types such as Newark, Detroit, Browne, Dickman and Gaylord. - Newark is in use at Unilorin library.

- After a user has picked a book he wants to borrow, this is taken to the circulation counter. - There a set of triplicate slips – white, yellow and pink is given to the borrower to fill. - The book to be borrowed is stamped the due date and the borrower goes with it, while the slips are filed. - When the books are returned, the three slip are withdrawn and the pink one is given to the user as proof of having returned the book.

- Graduate students are allowed to borrow for a period of four weeks. - There is an opportunity for renewal for another four weeks. - The number of books allowed for a graduate is four.

- Overdue notices are usually sent to a defaulter - Late return of borrowed books attracts a fine of N20 per day for the first fifteen days and N30 per day thereafter. - The fine is not meant to be a punitive measure but a means of encouraging early return of books.

- This collection contains books that are not borrowed out of the library but are consulted through permission from the circulation staff. - For a user to use such materials, he must enter the book in the register and drop his library card. - The concept of reserve collection is to enable a large number of users have the opportunity of using a book that is in high demand but of limited quantity.

- No library can acquire every available material - A user’s request for a non-available material may be met by obtaining it from another library. - Such materials can be books, journals, documents or rare books.

- This is the second section under Readers’ Services Division. - It is the section that assists users by answering queries, directing users to sources where they can find information etc. - Materials in this section are never borrowed out but are used in-house. - Examples of such materials include – dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, abstracts, indexes, bibliographies etc.