Role of artificial intelligence in enhancing community library services in Nigeria

Abstract

Community libraries serve as vital hubs for education, information access, and social development, particularly in underserved communities. With the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, these institutions now hold unprecedented opportunities to transform their services and to meet the evolving information needs of their users. This paper examines the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing community library services in Nigeria, drawing on contemporary literature to explore the conceptual dimensions, practical applications, benefits, and challenges of adoption. Community libraries are conceptualised as people centred institutions that provide free and equitable access to knowledge, while artificial intelligence is understood as the simulation of human cognitive functions in machines to support learning, reasoning, and decision making. The study identifies key roles of the technology in community library services, including automated cataloguing and classification, intelligent information retrieval, personalised user services, virtual reference and chatbot services, enhanced community engagement, digital preservation, inclusive and accessibility services, improved operational efficiency, and support for lifelong learning and digital literacy. The paper further highlights significant benefits such as improved service diversity, enhanced security, efficient resource management, and stronger research support, while acknowledging critical challenges that confront Nigerian community libraries, including data privacy concerns, ethical issues, high implementation costs, and inadequate staff training. The paper concludes by advocating increased infrastructure investment, sustained professional development, and policy frameworks that promote the ethical deployment of artificial intelligence in Nigerian community libraries.