Legal Deposit is Necessary!

ISBN Issuance doesn’t end when you publish your book, it does when you submit copies at the National Library!

In Nigeria, legal deposit requires publishers of books and other publications to submit copies to the National Library of Nigeria for preservation and posterity. This system ensures a comprehensive collection of national publications and serves as a memory bank of knowledge. The National Library Act mandates specific numbers of copies for different types of publications, including commercially produced books, privately published books, state/local government publications, and federal government publications. 

In addition to this, when you issue your ISBN on the NLN ISBN Online Portal, you need to process the legal deposit of the book and upload the acknowledgement letter before you can use your portal to issue another number.

Key aspects of legal deposit in Nigeria:

Mandatory requirement: All publications in Nigeria and about Nigeria must be submitted to the National Library. 
Free of charge: The submission is mandated by law and is free. 
National Bibliographic Control: Legal deposit is a primary source for the National Bibliographic Agency, ensuring that publications are recorded and cataloged.

Specific copy requirements:

The National Library Act specifies the number of copies to be deposited for different types of publications, such as commercial books (3 copies), privately published books (3 copies), state/local government publications (10 copies), and federal government publications (25 copies). Note that at certain branches of the National Library, you may be required to submit up to 4 copies for privately published books. Also, in case of ebooks, you are only required to submit 1 copy either electronically as PDF or burned into a CD.

❗️If we assist you in the issuance of your ISBN, we can also process the Legal Deposit for you. Since it’s free, you will only be required to cover the cost of transportation.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can process your Legal Deposit at anytime once your book is published.

You can process the legal deposit and get your acknowledgement letter at any branch of the National Library all accross Nigeria.

The process is entirely free. However, if someone else is submitting the copies for you or if we are doing that, you may need to cover other costs.

After the process, you will be issued a signed and stamped acknowledgement letter.

See National Library Branches in Nigeria

Do you need more information or our assistance in processing your Legal Deposit?

Send an email to contact@aceworldpgs.com, or Message Us

You can also Call or WhatsApp us on +2348072349777.

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