The Nigerian Library Association (NLA) has said public libraries in the country are more tilted to Western literature and the majority of the books there are promoting Western culture.

National President Lawal Umar stated this on Monday during a virtual news conference to mark the commencement of the 2025 Library Week The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the theme the week-long event is “Libraries and Cultural Heritage’’.

Umar said libraries being the most powerful institution for preserving cultural heritage, are, unfortunately, losing its identity in Nigeria. He, therefore, urged the citizens and institutions to support efforts of NLA in preserving the nation’s identity.

The association chief said: “Libraries by nature and design are cultural institutions, established essentially to preserve the culture of the people. “Our morals, norms and customs are supposed to be documented and preserved in our libraries.

“Unfortunately, the major challenge our libraries are facing is that they are more tilted to western literature. “Many people said that when they go to the public libraries, they discovered that majority of the books there are promoting western culture. “There is disconnect, because our libraries are established to take care of our moral, culture, but these areas are being neglected.”