The Significance of the Library in Technology Education Institutions in Sustainable Youth Empowerment: An Overview

This paper examines the significance of the library in technology education institutions for sustainable youth empowerment. It identified that the library is of relevant. The paper also pointed out that technology education institution cannot effectively realize its objective of sustainable youth empowerment without the supporting role of the library. It also uncovered one major impediment to library services and also pointed out possible ways to address the problem.


Introduction
It is glaring that technology education institutions are institutions aim at endowing its recipient with appropriate skills, experiences, abilities and co mpetences both mental and physical as equip ment for the individual to live and make mean ingful contribution to the development of the society. [1,2], observed that technology education is desirable for self-reliance and economic develop ment of Nigeria as it enables the recipients to acquire vocational/technical skills and competencies that make them beco me gainfully emp loyed and be able to fit adequately into the society and perform functional roles. Few may still need to be told that technology education institutions are vocal force in sustainable youth empowerment. The point is that these institutions are engaged in harnessing knowledge of the natural and social worlds which affects society's activities and organization. It is an indisputable fact that these institutions are involved in research, teaching and learning which emphasized in applying the knowledge of science to specific practical use so that man can live mo re co mfortably and securely in the future than he does now and even more than he did in the past. While this point cannot be over emphasized.
The fact remains that technology education institut ion cannot unilaterally realized its objective of sustainable youth empowerment without the supporting ro le of the lib rary.

Concept of Sustainable Youth Empowerment
Youth are one of the greatest assets any nation can have [3]. Therefore Youth Empowerment is a process according to [4] whereby young people gain the ability and authority to make decisions and imp lement change in their own lives. In Nigeria, youth empowerment occurs in homes, at schools, through youth organizations, government policy-making, reality TV shows and community organizing. Youth empowerment ranges fro m economic empo werment to social, ideology, educational, technological and political empowe rment.
The term youth empowerment co mbines two important words (Youth and empowerment). [4] noted that the United Nations, for statistical purposes, defines youth as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. While [5], defines empowerment as official authority or legal power to enable and promote self actualization influence. The strategy prescribed by the above definition means that the party been empowered already has the competencies needed to achieve the desired outcome. Youth empowerment therefore refers to a process through refers to a process through which adults being to share responsibility and power with young people. [6,7], stated that young people account for a large percentage of Nigeria's population figure, representing an important and dynamics force in any society. However, young people face many challenges in the Nigeria society, such as high rate of poverty and unemp loyment, illiteracy, and lack of access to information and essential welfare services.
In recent years, almost all governments of countries of the world, including advanced countries have sought new approaches to harness the potentials of young people and address the problems facing them [7]. As a result of the vintage position of the youth in any society, the concept of youth empowerment therefo re means involving young people in decision-making processes on issues that affect them, as well as entrusting them with the knowledge and skills necessary for them to effectively and meaningfully participate [7,8].
Sustainable youth empowerment in technology education institutions is very imperative because of the transitional period to adulthood and this is a challenge for many youth [9]. There are serious social, econo mic and educational consequences with not addressing. The issue, and since one of the major factor is literacy level arising fro m lack of informat ion. The library whose main function is provision and dissemination of info rmation can be use to address the situation by providing timely, accurate and regular informat ion in technology education institution.

The meaning of Li brary
Scholars across the Globe have put in effort in getting an appropriate defin ition fo r the word library. [10], defined lib rary as a store house of information and the seat of knowledge in an academic environ ment wh ile [11], further noted that library as an organized collect ion of books and other curries of informat ion organized and explo ited for current and future use. [12], see the library as a place entrusted with the acquisition, organization, preservation, storage retrieval and dissemination of information in whatever format it might appear. Although libraries predated the invention of book and collection Papyrus Scro lls (the original A lexandria libraries was a good examp le), and manuscript (the med ieval monastery libraries, for instance). In developed countries, libraries are taking the lead in internalizat ion, digitizat ion and virtualization of access to knowledge [13].
While other like [14], defined the library as a large collection of books, today the term library can refer any collection, including dig ital sources, resources and services. The collect ion can be of print, audio, and visual materials in numerous formats, including maps, prints, documents micro form (microfilm/ microfiche) CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, video games, e-books, audio books and many other electronic resources. A lib rary is organized for use and maintained by, institution, corporation, public body or a private individual depending on status and ownership. As a result of the dynamis m, of our society and the mergence of informat ion technology usage in lib rary, the defin ition of lib rary has change to reflect the services rendered in the modern lib rary.
In recent time, the defin ition of lib rary is changing both in nature and services. The term v irtual library is been introduced into the library system worldwide because with virtual library the quality of academic library collections will be bolstered up, staff and students will be able to access data bases for teaching and research [15,16]. They further noted that a library is an organized collection of items which may be in form of books, journals, videos, CD-Ro m etc, along with the services required to make them available to a given user group or groups. It can also be referred to as a "place" to get information and to get help finding informat ion. It can be physical or v irtual o r a co mbination of both [17,18].
The virtual library therefore, can be referred to as a child of necessity arising from the need to use technologies in accessing the world information.
The term virtual library has been defined by various persons, according to [19] citing [20], it is a library in which the holdings are found in electronic stacks without any regard to a physical space or location. It is a technological wag of bringing to gather the resources of various libraries and information services in one place so that users can find what they need quickly and easily. A virtual library and consist of materials fro m a variety of separate libraries that are organized in a virtual space using computers and computer networks.
Virtual library co llect ion is a co llect ion of mach ine readable documents made available through an internet site, one of the examp les of a virtual library is the networked computer science technical report library (NCSTRL) The aggregate of all the definit ions suggest that the library means a place where books and non-book material are systematically arranged follo wing definite codes and schemes which makes for easy retrieval and use. It is the nerve center of educational institutions. The clearing house of information.

Roles of the Library in Technol ogy Education Instituti ons in Sustainable Youth Empowerment
That the library occupies a unique position in dispensing educational services cannot be faulted. [21], noted that the main objective of academic library is to provide materials and service which will now and in future best contribute to the fulfillment of the objective of the university. [22], in recognizing this fact emphatically pointed out that libraries are one of the most important education service [23,24], also mentioned that: the library is the live wire of academic institutions because it provides the atmosphere and materials conducive and necessary for learning, teaching and research.
When viewed against this background the role/relevance of the library in technology education institutions unsustainable youth empowerment need no emphasis. The overwhelming argu ment is that these institutions engaged in teaching, learning and research which can not be efficiently and effectively carried without a lib rary. The point is that in this era of technological advancement and information explosion reliance on lectures note alone is no longer enough for a student to record a reasonable success in the field of technology education. To co mplement lectures note the lib rary prov ide the student with varieties of reading materials for his academic success. This it offer in both print and non-prints format.
It is an established fact that technology education institutions have clear objectives for sustainable youth empowe rment. However, these objectives would be difficu lt to realize, if not impossible without the supporting role of the lib rary. The unavoidable problem is that research work in the field of technology education for sustainable youth empowerment would be face with the inevitable need of consulting the work of other researchers. These works no double are better preserved in the library. It may not be for fro m this unique role of the library to institutions of higher learning that no tertiary institution of technology education, the country can be successfully accredited as one without a lib rary house in it. The uncompro mising fact is that the lib rary is a living force in technology education institutions, both students and technology educators needs the library to realize the objectives of sustainable youth empowerment.
There is no gain, saying that the efficiency of effect ive technology education institutions undoubtedly depend on books, yet the fact remains that books are very expensive. [25], noted that books are not easily come by and when they are, they are too expensive. The culminating effect is that no student no matter how rich h is financial background could single-handy provides all his needed reading materials for a successful quality and quantitative technology education for sustainable youth empowerment. To save the situation, the lib rary remain the anchor of hope for such student, as it provide freely, rich information materials to supplement whatever reading materials the student may have. As if that is not good enough, the library enhance student's communicat ion skills, as it provides, materials with which the student could improve himself. Its wide range of services helps technology education institutions to implement its curriculu m of studies. These services among others include book loan and reference services.

Proble m of Li braries in Technology Education Instituti ons
The effectiveness of the library in technology education institutions to offer and render meaningfu l library service for sustainable youth empowerment is impended by a number of problems. One of the major hindrances is inadequate funding.
It is frustrating to observe that over the years the library has been given a step-mother treat ment in the area of funding. When it co mes to the allocation of funds according to [26] the lib rary is usually the last to be remembered. And most often than not, allocation of fund to the library is tied to the relationship between the chief executive and the chief lib rarian. The resultant effect is under funding especially when there is a crack in the relat ionship in management. Lamenting this situation [27] identified that, most of the problem affecting libraries are traceable to under funding. But the National Un iversity Co mmission (NUC) and the National Co mmission for Colleges of Education strongly recommended that 10% of an institution's of higher learning statutory recurrent votes be set aside for library development. However [28], discovered that in the times of stress when expenditure has to be curtailed, the library grant is one of the first to be affected. [29], observed that whenever there was a cut on the budget the management will than know that books already acquired in the library over the years were still useful. Some studies identified, material and non-material problem, which refers to the insufficient nu mber of co mputers or copies of software, wh ile the non material problems include insufficient knowledge and skill to reader services [6,7]. Furthermore [11], h ighlighted other problem to include, lib rary management, mindset of library, library services and lib rary management software.
The imp licat ion is that the ability of the library to acquire relevant reading materials, up-date its collection and render effective lib rary services for sustainable youth empowerment is hampered.

Possible Ways to Hel p the Li brary in Technolog y Education Instituti ons in Sustainable Youth Empo werment
Having identified one of the major problems inhabiting lib rary service in technology education institutions. It is necessary to offer possible ways to check the trend and make the library more functional. And this the government can do by ensuring that the library is adequately funded. The watch dog of tertiary institutions that is the National University Co mmission and the National Co mmission for Colleges of Education should in its own part should ensure that fund allocation to the lib rary are consistent with its policy statement.
Library, however is affected by the problem of inadequate funding, this have a telling affect on its service. Th is could be address if the library is adequately funded or of best funded in line with National University Co mmission and the National Co mmission for Colleges of Education Co mmission guideline.

Summary and Conclusions
Technology education institution has a role to play in sustainable youth empowerment. But this cannot be effectively done without the complementary role of the lib rary. The issue is that these institutions are strongly connected with teaching, learning and research. And this cannot be meaningfu lly carried out without the library.
The fact is that the library provides rich reading materials and services to promote technology education institution for a sustainable youth empowerment. And these institutions cannot afford to denial its self if the objective of sustainable youth empowerment is to be realized.