Abstract:
T
here are now three Universities in Gha-
na with a total enrollment of about
10,000 students. The oldest and
larg-
est is the University of Ghana, Legon,
which was established in 1948 as a
University College preparing students for the de-
grees of the University of London. The University
of Science and Technology at Kumasi was the
second to be established in the country. It started
as a College of Technology in 1951 and was raised
to University status in 1961. The University of
Cape Coast came into being in 1962, mainly to
produce graduate teachers for expanding second-
ary schools and teacher-training colleges. All the
universities have libraries which provide services
to faculty members, scholars and students. The
number of books allowed to be borrowed, howev-
er, depends on the status of the user, with faculty
members having more privileges than students at
all the universities.
In most developed countries students and lec-
turers have other libraries (special, school, and
public) at their disposal in addition to their univer-
sity libraries, however, in Ghana the situation is
different. Besides the scarcity of bookshops,
stu-
dents are also hampered by poor services in the
public libraries
1
and inadequate facilities in the
special libraries.
2
As in other African countries, students are nor-
mally expected to buy the basic textbooks needed
for their courses.
3
A majority of the students in
Ghana are poor and cannot afford to do so. Al-
though students are given loans for their text-
books, the amount is too small. Consequently, the
university libraries are forced to take on the re-
sponsibilities of other libraries, as well as satisfy-
ing the library needs of their community. Mem-
bers of communities outside the university who
would normally use school, special, or public
libraries all have to turn to the university libraries
for help.
The policy of all university libraries in Ghana is
to provide adequate library materials to support
and reinforce new undergraduate courses, gradu-
ate programs, and the teaching staff. Acquisition
of library materials in university libraries has been
governed by the needs of the particular university
being
served.
This has led to a wide disparity in the
volume of books for students and the rate of
annual growth of library materials. Certainly, a
status study of collection development in Ghana's
university libraries is essential before consistent
standards can be properly advocated.