ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research was to examine
Effect of Funding on Public Libraries in Nigeria on Service Delivery: A Case Study
of Edo State Library Benin City. The study adopted Descriptive Survey Research
Design. Four research questions guided the study. The Population of the study
consists of ninety (97) respondents. The major instrument that was used for the
study was a set of Questionnaire containing a total of twenty (20) items
statement with bio data information of the respondent. Data collected was
analyzed using the Arithmetic Mean and Standard Deviation. Findings showed that
effective service delivery is fundamentally linked to adequate provision of
funds and other resources to equip all types of libraries. Recommendation were
made among which were libraries at all levels in Nigeria should be well stocked
with books and other information materials as a stepping stone to the provision
of computers and their associated technological facilities for our libraries,
There should be regular training and retraining of librarians to catch up with
modern trends, existing services and others, employment of qualified librarians
to man public libraries, preparation and distribution of requisite information
about library holdings to prospective users and proper evaluation of its
effectiveness should be done from time to time and feedback given to the
appropriate authority to ascertain the effectiveness of public libraries.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.1 Background to the
Study
Education is an instrument par excellence for national development. It
involves the development of the whole person intellectually, psychologically,
socially, vocationally, religiously or morally. This is the reason why
education is seen as an integral part of national development. Education is a
process through which people are formally and informally trained to acquire
knowledge and skills. The formal training comes from established schools from
the basic level to the tertiary level.
Through this process of education, people are expected to obtain
knowledge and skills and hence specialize in specific fields of study. It is
this knowledge that allows people to contribute meaningfully to national
development (Umar, 2004). National development involves economic growth,
modernization, equitable distribution of income and national resources and
socio-economic transformation for improved living standards of people through
the use of a country’s human, natural and institutional resources (Aboyade,
1984; Brooks, 1990; Mohammed, 1996).
The greatest resource for development is the human resource hence no
nation can develop in isolation of her human resources. The level and quality
of occupational participation and productivity of a populace are important
contributory factors to the level of economic and overall development of any
nation. It is therefore important that at all levels of education, high calibre
people be graduated so that they can give quality contributions to national
development in all spheres of life. The library is central to the provision of
the right type of information resources that empowers the educational
institutions to produce highly resourceful people to impact positively on
national development.
A library
is an organized collection of sources of information and similar
resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing.
It provides physical or digital access to materials, and may be a physical
building or room, or a virtual space, or both. Ifidon, (2012), citing United Nations, (2003) stated that
the role of libraries in learning is only the tip of an iceberg when compared to
their overall uses for societal and national development, scholarship,
serving as catalyst for economic development, fostering social inclusion and cohesions,
promoting concepts of civic centres and community services, encouraging working relationships
among democratic institution and advancement of cooperation and understanding.
Libraries have an historic mission of fostering
literacy and learning. Prior to the present era in Nigeria, the public library
was the place of last resort for relevant and current academic materials
(books, journals, proceedings etc) Ebiwolate (2010). The relegation of these
vital institutions in recent decades is indeed a matter of great concern
because Libraries, learning and reading can and do change lives and do have a
role to play in determining the future of our society. Libraries are vital to
education, and research has shown that the current lower levels of proficiency
in reading and learning are due to underfunding of libraries and their services
(Dibu, 2012).
To Albert, (2007) libraries are the cornerstone of
civil society, of the liberal democracy we have come to cherish. We must not
allow them to crumble into disuse. When we talk
about public libraries, we are referring to the ‘’people’s universities’’. The
term represents broad-based educational, informational, cultural and
recreational support resource centres. It also represents democratic government
or non-government established institutions where the poor can have their
talents developed for active participation in nation building. The public library is a social
institution which is tied to the political and social realities of the
communities where it is situated. As the name implies, this is a library that
serves the public.
According to Oduagwu (2002) public
libraries that serve the public are supported by government subvention, local
rates or charges. He went further to explain that public library is often
regarded as a poor man’s university. Its clientele is heterogeneous devoid of
race, status, rank, bias as to who would avail of its services. It stocks every
conceivable item that would add knowledge, education, research, information and
cultural needs of the society. In Nigeria today, each of the 36 states in the
country including Abuja has a public library board established under the public
library act as United Kingdom (UK), but here in Nigeria, library board of
states is established by edict or laws made by the states legislators.
Oparaku, Anyanwuand and Madi, (2005)
defined a public library as an institution that is set up by the government
through enabling law, funded and expected to meet the educational,
informational and recreational needs of its community, public library funding
refers to making money available for the day to day running of the library.
Finance is the life wire of any establishment including land, labour, capitals
and entrepreneur and information. The capital here refers to finance which can
be used to procure other factors of production there by making it more
important than others. Fund is obviously the major element in every
establishment. It is equally the working capital of an establishment.
Public Library funding generally
means the various ways expected funds are derived for capital and recurrent
expenses. It involves the money available or allocation to library for running
its day to day activities. However, the funding and financial allocations to
public libraries have remained poor since decades. Public libraries needs
adequate resources to enhance its services, pay and hire personal, provides
current information, arrange, organize and monitor both human and materials
resources.
State government subventions which
constitute about 80% of public library fund is grossly inadequate. This
inadequacy is because of the political instability and bad economy of the
country. Ulu (1997) for instance, the Imo state library was the first in the
country to start services to the handicap. But due to lack of fund to train
staff and carry out services, there services have been on slow progression.
Another problem is that the existing
infrastructural facilities in most public libraries are inadequate. Their
reference materials are too old. There are no separate rooms for music library
and audio-visual materials, and no rooms for serious readers especially those
carrying out research works. Lack of appreciation by policy makers in
government is one of the problems. This shows that the public libraries in the
nation Nigeria are not given due recognition and this is traceable not only to
the non-quantifiable nature of library services but also the misconception
given to libraries by government to get off these problems. There must be a
re-orientation on the part of the policy makers in government to accord the
public libraries in the country the recognition they truly deserves.
According to Egbulonu (2002), these
problems have adversely affected the public library services and its
operations. The result of the global economic situation has drastically
affected the attainment or achievements of basic standards in funding the
libraries.
From the history of public libraries
in Nigeria, the problem of funds has remained an intractable phenomenon. The
Nigerian Library Association is worried by the poor funding of libraries
generally but public libraries in particular. Therefore the Nigerian Library
Association has organized several conferences that highlight the problems of
poor funding of Public Libraries and need for improved funding.
1.2 Statement of Problem
It is observed that in many Public
Libraries, the budgetary allocation are not released as at when due, and this
in turn delays the implementation of the programmes of those libraries when
funds are eventually released. There is inadequate funding of public libraries
by the state government which provides about 80% of the funds required by the
public libraries.
Shortage of funds has resulted in
shortage of relevant text books as currently being experienced by students and
researchers who are in need of the materials. Inadequate provision of funds has
prevented the provision of current materials needed by the staff and clientele
in public libraries. Also poor appreciation of the service of the library by
those at the helm of affairs, low societal rating of the libraries in the
public libraries in the Nigeria pose problem to funding of public libraries.
Therefore, it is imperative to investigate effect of funding on service
delivery in public libraries in Nigeria.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The
objectives of this study are as follows:
1.
To
find out the major source of funding public libraries in Nigeria
2.
To
find alternative sources of funding public libraries in Nigeria.
3.
To
examine problems associated with inadequate funding of public libraries.
4.
To
identify ways to improve public library service and utilization.
1.4 Research Questions
1.
What
is the major source of fund for Edo State public libraries?
2.
What
are the other sources of funds that are available to public libraries in Edo
State?
3.
What
are the problems faced by public libraries in Edo State?
4.
In
what ways can public library services delivery been improved through proper funding?
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study is designed to look into the effect of funding on service
delivery in Public Libraries in Nigeria using Edo State Library Benin City as a
point of call.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The result of this study will benefit
the general populace in the following ways:
1.
Enable
effective service delivery of informal education opportunities for the citizens
in the community.
2.
Enrich
the knowledge of individuals in various subject disciplines where they
undertake formal education.
3.
Provide
avenues to meet the information needs of people.
4.
Helps
us to appreciate the Public Libraries as an agent of political, social and
religious development of a community.
5.
It
will also compel the relevant authority to deem it fit to release funds as when
due.
1.7 Limitation of Study
Financial constraint- the most important aspect of this study limitation is in the area of
finance. This limited the researcher in getting more literature work from other
sources.
Time constraint-
The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work,
thus causing a cut down on the time devoted for the research work
1.8 Operational Definition of Terms
Delivery: The
act of taking goods, services etc to the people they have been sent to
Effect: A
change that somebody or something cause in something else.
Effective:
Providing the result that is wanted or intended
Funding: The act
of providing money for a particular purpose
Public Libraries: A social institution which is tied to the political and social
realities of the communities where it is situated.
Service: A
system that provides something that the public needs, organized by the
government or a private company.
Source of Funds: A place or thing that you get money from
================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 45 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment