Library holdings in Nigeria include valuable collections of printed non-book materials in the form of newspaper cuttings, political party handouts, professional bodies and pressure group literature, as well as the innumerable ephemera issued by the central and local government and their agencies. They are very important source material for social science investigations in Nigeria. The purpose of this paper therefore is to highlight the main difficulties encountered in their storage and preservation and to suggest possible ways for dealing with them. It is hoped that it will assist librarians in reviewing and improving their methods of organising and managing this plethora of inestimable resource.
A major concern of all libraries, especially those in the humid tropical climate, is the preservation of resources so painstakingly acquired, while at the same time making them easily accessible to all users.
