Management Theories and Contemporary Issues in Managing Libraries in Nigeria

Due to the changing nature of the business environment, today’s libraries are faced with contemporary issues that pose a challenge to their survival and adaptability. Despite these challenges, management theorists have suggested various perspectives to managing organizations. In view of this, this paper aims to unravel contemporary issues faced by the management of libraries in Nigeria vis-a-vis the role of management theories in the successful management of organizations. These theories include classical theory, humanistic relations, behaviouristic theory, systems theory, contingency theory, and chaos theory respectively. This paper discusses the concept of management, general functions of management, and the underlying principles of specific management theories and their relevance in Nigerian libraries. This paper concludes that management theories are tools for successful management practice. Therefore, library managers should ensure the right application of specific management theories in problem-solving and decision-making situations as a basis for sound action and judgment