ABSTRACT
Library
patronage is an essential factor for justifying the value and existence of libraries
to the university community. However, observation and reports have showed
significant decline in library patronage in many academic libraries in Nigeria.
One wonder if this could be as a result of poor reading culture among students
or lack of satisfaction with the information resources and facilities provided
by libraries. This study therefore examined the influence that reading culture
and user's satisfaction has on academic library patronage in private
universities in Oyo State, Nigeria.
The
descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population was made up of
1,244 final year students. Multi-stage sampling technique was used for
selecting a sample size of 428. Data was collected with the aid of a
questionnaire and analyzed using frequency distribution and percentage counts while linear and multiple linear regressions
were used to analyze the hypotheses.
Findings
from the study revealed a moderate reading culture with the overall mean (2.71)
among undergraduates of private universities in Oyo State. The study also
revealed a moderate extent of satisfaction with library resources and services
provided with the overall mean (2.71). Respondents were also found to patronize
the university libraries to a moderate extent with the overall mean (2.48).
Reading culture was found to have a significant influence on library patronage
(β =.627, p<.05). Also, there was
positive significant influence of user satisfaction on academic library
patronage of student (β =.538, p<.05).
The study further revealed that reading culture and user satisfaction jointly
contributed 50.3% to the variation in library patronage of students. Therefore,
both factors jointly influence academic library patronage of student in private
Universities in Oyo State, Nigeria (R2 = .503, P<.05).
The study concluded
by noting that the university library is responsible for meeting the
information needs of its community and as such recommends that libraries should
encourage students at all level to show interest in reading by organizing
periodic seminar, workshops to improve reading culture. Reading campaign should
be organized regularly and reading should be part of the student handbook that
every student must read when they gain admission. The University library should
also endeavor to provide facilities and resources that will satisfy the
information needs of its user community as well as competent and capable staffs
to assist library users whenever they seek for help while using the library.
CHAPTER ONE
Academic libraries are those libraries
established in the university environment to promote research, teaching and
learning activities. It is a house of knowledge established in universities
where students and staffs are expected to visit and effectively make use of
resources to satisfy their information needs. The library can thus be regarded
as an organized collection of published and unpublished information materials
with staff that are able to provide such materials when needed (Ogbebor, 2011).
Academic libraries are libraries attached to tertiary institutions
such as universities, polytechnic institutions, colleges of education, colleges
of agriculture, colleges of technology and also research institutes
(Akporhonor, 2005). Singh and Kaur (2009) stressed that preservation and access
to knowledge and information is the main mandate of academic libraries
alongside supporting the mission of their parent institutions which is teaching
and research. Academic libraries are at the forefront of providing information
services to their respective communities which comprises of students,
lecturers, and researchers in order to support their teaching, learning and
research needs. Scholars have emphasized on the crucial role of academic
libraries in research and scholarship in institutions of higher learning. Many
a time’s academic libraries are referred to as the heart or nerve centres of
institutions of higher learning where all academic activities revolved.
The present-day academic library services in the 21st century is
focusing more on the area of digital, virtual or libraries without
borders all of which have transformed academic libraries and led to
transition and transformation in the academic library environment. The
transition and the transformation are accompanied with sophistication in the
changing pattern in the information needs of users which is growing rapidly.
Singh and Kaur (2009) observed that there is a paradigm shift from standalone
libraries to library and information networks; from printed publications to
digital documents; and from ownership to access. The transition according to
them is as a result of the impact of ICTs, the Internet and the web which is
affecting all types of libraries.
University libraries are an integral
part of the higher education system; they provide support services for the
formal educational programs as well as facilities for research and generation
of new knowledge. University libraries would be ineffective in delivering their
information services without a careful collection of relevant information
resources which range from print resources to electronic resources. Electronic resources also known as
e-resources ensure that information can be accessed without being physically
present within the four walls of a library. They include online books,
journals, CD-ROMs, databases, online public access catalogue (OPAC) and the
Internet (Oduwole & Akpati 2003). Print information resources include
books, journals, encyclopedias, dictionaries and so on. The electronic and print
information resources get into the library through library acquisition
processes. They are processed and organized to satisfy the information needs of
library clienteles for improved library patronage.
Library patronage can be seen as the
extent to which library users visit the library to use information resources or
for any other relevant activities. Despite the fact that many University
libraries have large volumes of electronic and non-electronic information
resources, research has shown a steady decline in the patronage of libraries in
Nigerian academic institutions (Ampko, 2010). Carlson (2001) noted that
libraries have notably responded to the decline in patronage by directing more
efforts towards provision of buildings and promoting good reading culture;
despite these efforts, the gate counts have been falling in many academic
libraries.
The declining state of patronage in the
academic library could be traced to a number of factors ranging from users’
discipline, gender, reading culture and so on. The World Bank Encyclopedia
(2001) states that reading is regarded as basic to learning and one of the most
important skills in everyday life. This view was also supported by Kolango
(2010) who added that reading may enable people to reach places they could not
go physically. Reading in all its variety is vital to being better informed and
having a better understanding of life and others. Reading makes a man
thoughtful and constructive contributor to a democratic and cohesive society
(Sisulu, 2004).
More often than not, students read for
different purposes: developmental, recreational, and functional purposes
(Smith, 2007). Developmental reading focuses attention on improving the ability
to read while functional reading is directed towards information as a means of
reading for learning sake. On the other hand, recreational reading is reading
for the pleasure. People who read books regularly or who have formed ‘general
reading culture’ have developed a lifelong culture of learning that involves
paying regular visit to the library and by extension; they promote the
library’s existence. On the other hand, some student’s daily reading habits
centres on social media, such students only read for examination purposes and
rarely pick up books for pleasure (Aina, Ogungbeni & Adigun, 2011). In this
case they lack reading culture.
Tella and Akande (2007) observed that
reading is an important aspect of life which is not only about enjoyment but a
necessity; the basic tool of education. Reading is the key for each and every
human being in order to deal with new and emerging knowledge in the changing
world of technological advances. Reading, therefore, has been said to be the
most important operating area for academic libraries because it represents the
competence which allows an individual to understand the information that has
been offered to him. Reading has been equated with memory exercise initiated in
order to pass school examinations which contradicts lifelong learning principles.
This situation has led to the reduction in the value of books as well as the
lack of motivation in reading beyond the school context. One of the
consequences is the presence of illiterates who are unmotivated, uncommitted
and reluctant readers that lack enthusiasm for reading and always have reasons
they do not read (Beers, 1996).
Behrman (2004) defined reading culture
as an integrated pattern of reading behaviours, practices, beliefs, perception
and knowledge. Magara and Batambuze (2005) in their study on ways of creating a
reading culture for Uganda refers to reading culture as a situation where
reading is part of the people’s living and constitutes a habit that is shared
by members of the society. According to Vygotsky (1981) cited in Thompson
(2013), ‘culture’ is complex and difficult to define; it can be defined as the
product of man’s social life and his public activity. In this regard, culture
is understood as consisting of people’s ways of being in the world, behaving,
and acting, based on what they have observed in the society, it refers to the
attitudes, manners or habits shared by a given group of people in order to
achieve common goals. In the context of this study, reading culture refers to
the response that library user’s accord to reading and writing in their
everyday life. Hence, reading culture becomes established in a society that
places high values and interest in books and reading (Commeyras & Mazile,
2011). It should be noted that library users who lack reading culture which is
one of the basic tools needed for retrieving information in libraries may visit
and leave the library unsatisfied.
User
satisfaction implies providing information and/or services that will meet the
needs of an information seeker. Solola (2003) opined that the quality of
services rendered to library users in any library reflects the quality of the
staff. He further contends that if a library is managed by well qualified,
experienced and cultured staff, users will always be encouraged to make use of
the library. However, Abagai (2008) pointed out that users’ satisfaction
involves locating information, familiarity with and user-friendliness of the
library catalogue, the classification system, getting assistance from the
library staff, having knowledge of library approaches to reference services,
borrowing pattern, knowledge of opening and closing time in the library among
others. User satisfaction is a concept that describes how library users feel
after consulting the library, this also influences re-use of the library
information materials and resources.
Mohammed (2006) viewed user satisfaction as
the extent to which a library user’s information needs are fulfilled with
available service and information resources of a given library. Librarians
should pay more attention to user satisfaction with library services. Mason
(2010) suggests that librarians must be sympathetic and helpful to all students
and that students must be aware that librarians and faculty members are to
instruct and encourage their intellectual odyssey and should be seen as
facilitators. An underequipped library will therefore not serve its cardinal
purposes, hence undermine effective academic work. This phenomenon makes
library users to have a perception of the library services in terms of their
satisfaction.
Quality assurance demands that,
libraries from time to time, need to be assessed and evaluated by their users.
This will enable librarian make adequate provision that will meet the
information needs of its user community. Users' satisfaction is considered to
be a reliable benchmark for determining library effectiveness. Users'
information needs are met in an effective way by providing standard, suitable
and relevant library services. Users' assessment can provide invaluable
information to libraries in re-orienting their collections, services and
activities in order to effectively meet users’ information need (Kyrillidou, 2005). Idiegbeyan and
Esse (2013) posited that one element of high-quality service is the
incorporation of users’ personal needs and expectations into the development of
programs and service. They further stated that the continued success of
academic libraries depends on the organization’s ability to adjust its products
and services to correspond to user needs. Similarly, Omehia and Obi (2008)
suggested that only clienteles justify the existence of a library, while
Jayasundara (2013) noted that an assessment of the performance of a library
depends on the users being judges of quality.
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa that is
geographically and well located on the West African coast. It has a great
diversity in the area of its natural components that comprises of varied
topography, climatic conditions as well as vegetational patterns. The country
is blessed with abundant natural resources that spread across its 36 states as
well as its Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Nigeria has a number of
universities with academic libraries attached to them. Also there are a number
of polytechnics and colleges all attached with academic libraries. Nigeria’s
university system is been supervised by the National Universities Commission
(NUC), a parastatal body under the Federal Ministry of Education; while the
National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for
Colleges of Education (NCCE) supervises polytechnics and colleges respectively.
However, research has shown a steady decline in the patronage of libraries in
Nigeria despite the large volumes of electronic and non-electronic information
resources materials that has been made available by both government and
privately own universities.
Library patronage is indeed on a rapid
decline in many Nigeria academic institutions. This could be as a result of
poor reading culture among student which have been developed over the years
before getting into the university. The declining state of many academic
libraries could also be traced to the lack of satisfaction with resources,
facilities and staff attitudes toward library user which might discourage them
from further consulting the library. Therefore to justify the existence of any
academic library, provision of effective services and resources is necessary to
attract potential users. It is in view of these that the present study seeks to
investigate the influence of students reading culture and user’s satisfactions
on their academic library patronage.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Unfortunately, literature has shown a
significant decline in library patronage in many academic libraries in Nigeria
which could suggest a poor reading culture among students in academic
institutions or lack of satisfaction with library service: This situation, if
allowed to continue would not only affect the quality of education in our tertiary institutions but will also threaten
the existence of libraries as they may not be able to justify their value to
the university community. This study, therefore, investigates reading culture,
user satisfaction and the patronage of private university libraries in Oyo
State, Nigeria.
1.3 Objective of the Study
The general objective of
this study is to determine the influence of reading culture and user
satisfaction on library patronage in private universities in Oyo State,
Nigeria. The specific objectives are to:
1.
identify the extent of library patronage
of students in private universities in
Oyo State, Nigeria;
2.
ascertain the reading culture of students in
private universities in Oyo State, Nigeria;
3.
ascertain the extent to which students
are satisfied with facilities and services provided by librarians in private
universities in Oyo State, Nigeria;
4.
determine the influence of users’
satisfaction on library patronage in private universities in Oyo State;
5.
ascertain the influence of students’
reading culture on library patronage in private universities in Oyo State;
6.
ascertain the joint influence of reading
culture and users’ satisfaction on students’ library patronage in private
universities in Oyo State and
7.
identify the challenges faced by
undergraduates when using the library.
The following research
questions are raised to guide the study:
- What is the reading culture of students in
private universities in Oyo state?
- To what extent do students patronize
the library in private universities in Oyo State?
- To what extent are students in
private universities in Oyo State satisfied with library facilities and
services?
- What are the challenges facing students in the use of the University library in private universities in Oyo State?
The
following are the statements of hypotheses in null form guiding this study. It
will be measured at 0.05 level of significance
Ho1: Students’ reading culture does not
significantly influence their library
patronage in private
universities in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Ho2: Users’ satisfaction does not significantly influence
students’ library patronage in private universities in Oyo State, Nigeria.
Ho3: Reading culture and user satisfaction do not have a
joint significantly influence on library patronage of students in
private universities in Oyo State, Nigeria.
1.6 Scope of the Study
The
focus of this study is reading culture, user satisfaction,
and library patronage in private universities in Oyo State, Nigeria. Reading culture constitutes reading plan, environmental factors, reading
preferences and attitude. Library patronage in the context of this study is
limited to consultation of books and other information resources, purpose of visit, frequency of visit and nature
of materials consulted. Furthermore, this study will view library patronage
from both physical and electronic use of library resources.
User
satisfaction entails satisfaction with staff attitude, currency of materials, help/support, and information resources
provided, internet facilities provided, lending processes, and shelving.
Satisfaction with library policies which are meant to maintain discipline in
the library such as eating in the library, use of earphones and dressing are,
however, excluded from this study, as the study
aims at focusing on academic related issues.
Finally, this study is limited to final
year undergraduates because they have been in the university system for a long
time and as such are expected to have developed a stable reading culture and
library patronage pattern.
1.7 Significance
of the Study
This
study would reveal the state of students’ reading culture, user satisfaction,
and library patronage. This study would generate new insight into the joint
influence that students’ reading culture and satisfaction have on library
patronage. This knowledge would consequently be used to understand how reading
culture and user satisfaction affect library patronage among students. Hence, a
solid policy direction and blueprint of targeted campaigns might be developed
in order to create customized reading culture intervention library programs for
students with low reading culture. This study would also help university libraries
to justify increased budgetary allocations for the acquisition of relevant
information materials and other library resources in order to increase reading
culture and satisfaction among users.
The study
would also be helpful to libraries and librarians in universities in Nigeria.
It would help to know the conditions of their libraries and therefore help to
improve their services, especially in assisting students in their research
works and other assignments. It would also help the librarians in the
acquisitions process in order to meet the information need of their user
community as well as planning of various library infrastructures. Also policy
makers will be informed on the importance of user satisfaction with library
resources and services provided and how it would promote library patronage and
promote good reading culture among student. The findings and recommendation
would go a long way in providing the appropriate strategic direction for the
smooth and efficient administration of universities in Nigeria and elsewhere.
Finally,
it is hoped that the results and recommendations of this study would go a long
way to help address the concerns of faculty, researchers, students, and the
general public, therefore establishing firmly, the importance of reading
culture and user satisfaction on academic library patronage of students.
Reading Culture: This
refers to the reading plan, preference and attitude of students towards reading
in private universities in Oyo State.
User’s Satisfaction: This is
a measure of the contentment with library
services by users of the library. In the
context of this study, it entails satisfaction with staff attitude, the currency of information materials,
help/support, information resources provided, computer and internet facilities,
lending processes and shelving.
Library
Patronage: This deals with the frequency of
students’ visit or use of either physical or electronic information resources
provided by the university library. In this study, it means consultation of
books/other information resources, the purpose and frequency of visit.
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