A survey of the historical and contemporary facts and figures presents Nigeria as a nation battling to eradicate poverty. However, the role that public libraries in Nigeria could play in eradicating poverty and empowering the youth has not been sufficiently recognized. Hence, the necessary policy developments and investment in the library network have not yet been made. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of access to information and knowledge through the use of libraries in skills acquisition and job creation in Lagos state, Nigeria. This is done against a background of various poverty alleviation strategies the Nigerian government has launched to tackle poverty since May 1999. This paper is based on a review of relevant literature and survey in selected skills acquisition centers and public libraries in Lagos State, Nigeria. The finding revealed that the youth remain marginalised and less fortunate as a result of neglect. These category of people need access to appropriate information and knowledge to tackle poverty, illiteracy and motivated isolation. Therefore, this paper will evaluate the scale of poverty among the youth in Lagos State, Nigeria, and the available evidence on the impact of access to information on poverty eradication. Specifically, the impacts of access to, and use of information in the various skills acquisition centers and public libraries in Lagos state will be emphasized and efforts at poverty reduction on the population will be discussed. Recommendations will be based on findings.