Schoenstatt Fathers Nigeria

Services of the Library

The library offers the following services:

  1. Registration of library users

All the members of the Schoenstatt Fathers Community at the Novitiate and the Formation House and others in Ibadan as well as the brothers undertaking various study programmes are eligible to register as library users. Though the registration is online, each prospective user is required to obtain a written permission from the Rector or anyone he delegates for the registration to be fully completed. With the permission of the Rector, other priests and religious residing in Ibadan may also be registered as library users.

  1. Reference services

Reference services are rendered to provide answers to users queries in the process of meeting their information needs. Such services available in the library include:

  • Answering users’ queries
  • Current awareness services
  • Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)
  • Compilation of reading lists
  • Abstracting services
  • Translation services
  • Inter-library loan services
  • User education

Generally, these are services offered at a high professional level by the librarians.

  1. Lending services

Registered users of the library could borrow books for five days duration. The Reverend Fathers are entitled to borrow a maximum of four books at a time while the student brothers could borrow two books at a time. All books returned must be duly signed out by the librarian each time. To borrow an additional book, the user needs to return one of those earlier borrowed once the borrowing limit has been reached.

  1. Book reservation

This service ensures that once a book intended to be borrowed is on loan already, the requester is given the opportunity to be the first to borrow it upon its return to the library. In which case, a request by the borrower of the item for a renewal of the loan will be turned down.

  1. Overnight loans

This service permits the user to borrow a library material at the closing time for the day and to return it, first thing the next day. This service makes it possible for the users to borrow all categories of materials some of which would ordinarily not have been loanable, for example, pamphlets, dictionaries, and encyclopaedias.

  1. In-house library use

Users are free to use the library database and or library books and other information materials within the library. Users could bring their personal laptops and books for use in the library.

 Personal books and laptops can be brought into the library to be employed while the user is in the library, but bags and unnecessary personal effects will be disallowed as that will obstruct movement and convenience. Phones are only allowed with the strict instruction that they should not be allowed to ring out, calls are to be taken outside the library and never in the library. The library is to have books, journals, and resource materials in the areas of philosophy, theology, psychology, religion, Schoenstatt, and the humanities.