ABSTRACT
This study investigated public library location as correlate to users’ patronage in Abia and Imo States, Nigeria. The study was aimed at finding out the relationship between the public library location and users’ patronage. That is to know if the location of public libraries in Abia and Imo States affected the patronage of users. Literature in relevant areas was reviewed. An ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 914 registered users of public libraries in Abia and Imo States. A total of 524 registered users from Umuahia Central and Owerri Central libraries in Abia and Imo States formed the sample for the study using purposive sample technique. A structured questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. Data were analyzed and presented using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC). The major findings of the study revealed that there is a high positive and significant relationship between the location of public libraries and users’ patronage, which showed that location of public library can affect the use. A significant relationship also existed between the distance to the public library location and users patronage. This implied that low level of patronage of public library could be as a result of distance of the library to the users. The findings also discovered that how users commute to the public library in their area relates to users’ patronage. Challenges such as non-centrality of the library to users’ residence, high cost of transportation, among others relates to users’ patronage. The study outlined solutions such as centrality of the location of public library, low cost of transportation, involvement of library and information professionals in planning and establishment of public library, among others. Thus the study concludes that centrality of the location of the public libraries can increase the level of users’ patronage. The study recommends that State Government should site public libraries in centralized locations. Library and Information Science Professionals should be fully involved in the planning and establishment of public libraries and also Non-Governmental organizations and philanthropists should be encouraged to support funding of public libraries.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Declaration i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgment iv
Table of Contents v
List of Tables vi
List of Appendices vii
Abstract viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 7
1.3 Purpose of the Study 9
1.4 Research Questions 9
1.5 Hypotheses 10
1.6 Significance of the Study 10
1.7 Scope of the Study 11
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1
Conceptual Framework 12
2.1.1
Public Library 12
2.1.2 History
of public libraries 16
2.1.3 Public library location for users’
proximity 20
2.1.4 Public library resources. 24
2.1.5 Public library services 29
2.1.6 Utilization
and users of public libraries 33
2.2 Theoretical
Framework 37
2.3 Empirical
Studies 39
2.4 Summary
of Literature Review 44
CHAPTER3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Design
of the Study 46
3.2 Area
of the Study 47
3.3 Population
of the Study 48
3.4 Sample
and Sampling Techniques 48
3.5 Instrument
for Data Collection 49
3.6 Validation
of the Instrument 49
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument
50
3.8 Method
of Data Collection 50
3.9 Method of Data Analysis 50
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 Results 52
4.2 Summary
of the Findings 61
4.3 Discussion
of the Findings 62
CHAPTER 5:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Summary
67
5.2 Conclusion 70
5.3 Recommendation
70
5.4 Implication
of the Study 71
5.5 Limitations
of the Study 72
5.6 Suggestions
for further Study 72
References 73
LIST OF FIGURES
I: Population Frame
79
II: Sample Size frame
80
III: Instrument for Date collection 81
IV: Computer Output of Internal Consistency of reliability 82
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
For any society to advance
socially and economically, adequate information and learning are needed. The Public library is one of the vital
institutions that provide information and learning to the general public irrespective
of age, gender, and qualification. Public libraries are primarily, institutions
of basic learning, having a mission which involves providing services to meet
information needs of the local community. They serve as local gateway to
knowledge and information and provide conditions for lifelong learning,
community development and independent decision making by an individual. A
public library, therefore, is a library that offers services to the public free
of charge. Such services cover education, social, cultural and political
information as well as reference and information services, and selective
dissemination of information (SDI).
Definitions of public library by
scholars include: Nnadozie (2007),
“Public libraries are
regarded as those government or public funded libraries established to provide
free services and on equal basis to the generality of the people without
discrimination as to race, age, gender, colour, religion, political/ideological
inclination, educational attainment or economic status”.
Rubin (2010) holds that a public library is a library that is
accessible by the public and generally funded from public sources such as tax.
Nwokocha (2013), affirm that a public library is established to serve the
generality of the residents of the community or town where it is located.
Compared to other libraries, it has about the most heterogeneous clientele as
there is no restriction as who can use it. It also provides an avenue for
recreation and relaxation. According to Tiwari (2013), the public library
provides services to the general public and makes at least some of their books
available for borrowing, so that readers may use them at home over a period of
days or weeks. Many public libraries also serve as community organizations that
provide free services and event to the public such as story time, awareness of
available government social amenities and educational services.
Kumar (2017) posits that the
public library is the “people’s university” in a democratic society. It is
operated for the people, by the people, and conserves and organizes human
knowledge in order to place it freely in the service of the people without any
distinction of occupation, creed, class, religion, or ethnicity. It is a
university of the people since it is maintained and financed by the people of
the community who freely throng to this institution to acquire the knowledge
that they need in their day-to-day life.
The public library cannot
achieve its goals and objectives without its resources. Public library
resources are those library resources that are of fundamental importance to the
achievement of the library goals. According to Nnadozie (2007), library
resources are those possessions or property, which facilitate routine
operations of the library. It includes human resources, facilities, and
information resources. Human resources are staff of the library that provide
technical, managerial and professional duties and other support-services. The
facilities include the furniture, fittings and equipment. Information resources
are the information collected to solve users’ needs through the information
media or sources. As Aina (cited in Ibenne, 2010) notes, information sources
refer to information carriers. As such, the information required by users of
public libraries appears in a variety of formats such as books, serials, maps,
and compacts discs. These formats are generally referred to as information
carriers or sources. This is because these various resources bear information
that is useful to the users of the public library.
The entire human and
material resources in a public library are put in place for the overall purpose
of providing effective services to the library users. Library services are
required for information sources to be accessible. According to Nwokocha
(2013), library services are satisfying to users when there is a desire on the
part of staff to offer quality services as diligently as possible. It also
entails organization of the library environment and materials to reflect its
readiness to provide services that would be of interest and profitable to its
users. Public libraries offer additional services to their users beyond the
provision of books and periodicals. Some of the services available include:
v Lending services - where users can
borrow books, CDs, e-books and other materials.
v Children’s
lending service - where books and other materials for children of all ages are
made available.
v Internet service
- where users can access the internet and other online resources.
v Reference service
– which makes available and maintain up-to-date reference materials on market
trends and career opportunities for consultation in the library.
v Community groups
- where space and support are provided for a range of groups like book clubs,
movie clubs.
v Offering settlement support.
v Economics and workforce
development (Salman and Mugwisi, 2014)
Some public libraries
provide literacy support services where information on how to encourage
children to read and also help the users who have learning challenges are
offered. Other services are local studies, business and employment supports
services, environmental information, information services, educational support
for schools and students and reprographic services. One of the most popular
services offered in public libraries are summer reading programmes for
children, families, and adults. It also provides free services such as
pre-school story times to encourage early literacy, quiet study and work areas
for students and professionals or book club to encourage appreciation of
literature in adults. Most services provided by the public library are built
around the delivery of information to the clientele.
Information is the pivot, or
the fulcrum around which the economic, social, industrial, political and
technological development of any nation revolves (Ogunrombi & Sanni, 2009).
No society, whether developed or developing, can aspire to greater heights
economically, socially, politically, and even technologically without adequate
and unhindered flow of relevant information (Uhegbu, 2007). The public library
critically provides this information. This explains why nations of the world
today are classified as either developed, developing, or underdeveloped based,
among other things, on the status of their public library and availability and
accessibility of information to her citizens.
The economic
importance of the public library lies in its value as a source for information
provision and the strategic value of information in decision-making and
planning (Ogunrombi & Sanni, 2009).
According to Onu (2005), information is the oil that greases the wheel
of governance, as well as drives the programmes and activities of the government,
organizations and individuals. Viewing it from every slant, it is obvious that
the need for adequate, current, and timely information is crucial for society.
Auspiciously, public libraries, which are the local gateways to information and
knowledge, have come to close the gap between the people within and around a
given geographical area.
The Public library is the
only type of library that opens its doors to all members of the community
regardless of their sex, ethnicity, creed, social or class status, age,
academic qualifications, or political leanings. Therefore location of a public
library is a major factor in its use. Location simply means a place or
position. It is the place where a particular point or object exist. Location
also means the physical composition of an area. Location is geographically used
to identify a point or an area on the earth’s surface or elsewhere. It
generally implies a higher degree of certainty than place; the latter often
indicating an entity with an ambiguous boundary, relying more on human or
social attributes of place identity and sense of place than on geometry
(Hornby, Ashby &Wehmeier, 2017). Robinson and Dividson (2001) define
location as a position or situation. It is also the act of locating or process
of being located. Therefore the location of a public library is an essential
prerequisite in achieving its objective.
The term “User” is defined
as a person or thing that uses something, and “patronage” is regarded as the
support that is given to a person or an organization by a patron (Hornby, Ashby
&Wehmeier, 2017). Pasad, cited in Solanke & Nwalo (2016), notes that
the person who is actively seeking access to information and when successful
obtains and uses the information is described as a user. According to him,
users can be grouped by discipline or by the type of activities. The patronage
of the public library services centers around the need for information either
for education, information, or recreational purpose. Odunola and Tella (2019)
defined library patronage as the consultation or use of library informational
resources by the users of the library either physically or via remote access.
In other words patronage of the library means regular utilization of library
services by the intended users. Hence, in the content of this study, users’
patronage will imply the constant utilization of public library by the library
users in the location it is situated.
Onuoha and Subair (2013) are of the opinion that the essence of
evaluating the patronage of a library is to gather useful information on
whether the library is fulfilling its mandate and to also help in the reform of
services provision, planning and the effective management of the library.
According to Ibrahim and
Wada (2021) the level of patronage of library is a good measure of how well
libraries can facilitate teaching, learning and research activities. Before a service is patronize by the intended
users, the users must have access to the services, hence patronage of public
library may be influence as a result of the location of the library. A Public library is a potent democratic
institution that brings people from all walks of life together in their search
for information, education and continuous self-development. Therefore, in
siting a public library, the residence of the library users and the distance to
the library must be taken into careful consideration. A Public library should
not be located far away from the users, where they have to spend much on
transportation or have to trek long distances to access library services.
In addition to distance, natural and artificial barriers
between users’ residences and the library should also be taken into
consideration. Public libraries should not be located where users would have to
cross a river, climb hills, or descend deep valley to access a public library
service point. It should also not be located in a noisy area like a market.
This is because the noise will affect the desired concentration. This will mar
the users from use of the library. This point has been proven in a survey
conducted by Iwhiwhu and Okorodudu (2012), which revealed that the location of
Edo State public library is one of the challenges that influence the
underutilization, as the library is located along ever busy road and also
surrounded by commercial buildings that generate a lot of noise, which could
distract users in the library. The noise from the location can discourage the
users from coming to the library. This consideration is of utmost importance in
developing countries where online services are not yet well developed to make
library services accessible from any point or location. Effort should be made
to site the library where users will not have to cross very high traffic flows
before accessing it. The reason is that, if public libraries are located where
such barriers exist, access to the library could be impacted negatively and use
impaired.
Everywhere in the
world, including Nigeria, public library services are designed to be used by
the citizens. This is because; these libraries are local centres of information
which help to promote literacy and the pure enjoyment of reading. People are
expected to use the services provided by the public libraries to meet their
educational, cultural, technological, economic, and political information
needs. Unfortunately, from observations and studies such as Adegbilero (2014)
which seek to find out how often users patronized Public Libraries in South
West Nigeria, all pointed out that public libraries in Nigeria are experiencing decline in patronage.
Considering the poor
state of public libraries in Africa, the Carngie Corporation, based in New
York, United States of America (USA), sponsored an investigation for
revitalization of public libraries carried out by the International Network for
the Availability Scientific Publication (INASP) in the year 2001 and this was
to obtain firsthand information on the state of public libraries in 10 African
countries namely; Botswana, Ghana, Kenye, Nigeria, Malawi, South Africa,
Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zambabwe (Baffour-Awuah, 2021). That investigation
led to a literature survey and the report which was then published included a
researcher’s report on each country. The conclusion was that the public library
movement in Africa is very weak as it has numerous problems such as financial
constraints, lack of human resources, outdated materials and poor use. As
Onadiran cited in Mamman (2015), notes, “the usefulness of
any public library depends on its ability to serve the community and the
encouragement it provides for people of all ages to educate themselves
continually”. This cannot be achieved without the library being situated in a
location that the users doesn’t find difficult to access.
It is evident from the
above account that location exerts some influence on the use of information services,
and public libraries are not exempted. The level of influence also varies from
one public library to the other. This makes it imperative that the relationship
between the location of the library and users’ patronage in a specific library
should be investigated to avoid over-generalization or wrong assumption. It is
for this reason that this study examines the public library location as
correlate to users’ patronage in Abia and Imo states of Nigeria.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The Public library is one of the most important libraries.
Public libraries are characterized by making accurate and up-to-date
information resources available to all without discrimination, whether in print
or non-print format. Unfortunately, the public library is alleged to have been
underutilized. The location of anything has implications for its accessibility
and utilization. The location of public library influences the use of the
library either positively or negatively. The preliminary observations of the
researcher indicated that in Nigeria, available public libraries are not
effectively patronized by the citizenry. This scenario could be ascribed to
some challenges such as improper and distant locations. However, there is no
empirical evidence to verify this claim. Yet, it is important to solve the
problem of underutilization of public libraries, calling for the need to
examine the implication of their locations. Thus, this research is carried out
to investigate the relationship between public libraries location and their
patronage, with a focus on Abia and Imo States.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The general
purpose of this study is to determine public library location as a correlate to
users’ patronage in Abia and Imo states. The specific objectives are to:
i.
ascertain the relationship between public library location
and users’ patronage,
ii.
determine the relationship between the distance to the public
library location and users’ patronage.
iii.
determine the relationship between users’ means of commuting
to public libraries in their area and
their patronage
iv.
ascertain the challenges of the location of the public
library as it concerns users’ patronage and,
v.
proffer solutions to the issues of the location of public
library as related to users’ patronage.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions
are formulated to guide the study.
i.
Is
there any relationship between public library location and users’
patronage?
ii.
What is the relationship between the distance to the location
of the public library and users’ patronage?
iii. What is the relationship between users’ means of
commuting to the public library and their patronage?
iv.
What are the challenges of the location of public libraries
to users’ patronage?
v.
What are the solutions to the challenges of location of the
public libraries and users’ patronage?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses would be tested
at 0.5 level of significance:
HO1: There is no significant relationship between the location of the
public libraries and users’ patronage
HO2: There is no
significant relationship between the distance to the locations and users’
patronage of public libraries.
HO3: There is no significant relationship between users’ means of
commuting to public library and their patronage of public libraries
HO4: There is no significant relationship between challenges of
location of public libraries and users’
patronage
HO5: There is no significant
relationship between possible solutions to the issue of location and users’ patronage of public
libraries.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
It is expected that when
published, the result of this study would be beneficial to government as the
parent body of public library, library administrators, communities, library and
information professionals, researchers, students and the public in
general.
It will enable government to understand the state of public
libraries in Nigeria and propel them to take appropriate actions that will
bring about positive changes in the public library sector in Nigeria. It will
also help to bring about improvement in the location of public libraries.
To library
administrators, the findings will provide data to be used in planning,
organizing, directing and coordinating all public library activities and
operations; assesses users’ needs, recommend programmes, implement and evaluate
programme(s) effectiveness. It will also propel them to work with library managers
in the establishment of branch libraries. It will draw the attention of
community to the public library and make them to realize the importance of
public library location, thereby making them to collaborate with the relevant
Government agencies in the development of the public library.
The findings of this study
are expected to be beneficial to library and information professionals who and
serve as a reference document when saddled with the responsibility of
establishing public libraries. The findings will also be beneficial to
researchers because the study will add to existing literature in this area of
public library location. It will create awareness to the students, especially,
those who may not have been aware of the location of public libraries in Abia
and Imo States and who before now did not realize the availability of public
libraries in their localities.
Lastly, the findings
from this study will be beneficial to the general public, by creating awareness
of the distributions of public libraries in Abia and Imo States and encourage
the populace to access and patronize public libraries, thereby promoting
reading culture and an informed public.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The geographical scope for
the study is the public libraries in Abia and Imo States. The study is
delimited to the location of the public libraries in relation to users’
patronage in Abia and Imo States Public Library Services. The content scope
covers public library, history of public library, public library location for users’
proximity, public library resources, public library services, utilization and
users of public libraries. The population scope is limited to registered users
of the public libraries in Abia and Imo States.
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