Availability and Utilisation of Library Services by Undergraduates in Lagos state University, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines availability and utilisation of library services by undergraduate students at the Lagos State University, Lagos. The study adopted a descriptive design which involves the use of questionnaire for data collection. The population of the study consists of three hundred and ninety (390) students from eleven faculties in the university. Simple random sampling was used to select the respondents from the levels 200-500 students in the university. Data collected were analysed using frequency counts, means, and standard deviation. Results revealed that there are various services available to users in Lagos State University Library, such as reference services, circulation services, and online services. The study also revealed the most accessible library service as the reference service. The study further revealed that undergraduate students' main purpose for using the university library is based on the conduciveness of the library for reading and research activities. The study recommends the need for the library management to improve on existing services to ensure the better use of the library and the need for the library to equip the reference section with more relevant materials.

Full text

Ilorin Varsity International Journal of Library & Information Science Vol. 3 No. 1 2020
101
Availability and Utilisation of Library Services by Undergraduates in Lagos state
University, Nigeria
ILORI, M. E.
iloriedeole@yahoo.com
College Library,
Michael Otedola College of Primary Education Noforija Epe, Lagos State
&
OWOLABI, K.A.
Nimbe Adedipe Library,
Federal University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta.
Abstract
This study examines availability and utilisation of library services by undergraduate students at
the Lagos State University, Lagos. The study adopted a descriptive design which involves the use
of questionnaire for data collection. The population of the study consists of three hundred and
ninety (390) students from eleven faculties in the university. Simple random sampling was used
to select the respondents from the levels 200 -500 students in the university. Data collected were
analysed using frequency counts, means, and standard deviation. Results revealed that there are
various services available to users in Lagos State University Library, such as reference services,
circulation services, and online services. The study also revealed the most accessible library
service as the reference service. The study further revealed that undergraduate students’ main
purpose for using the university library is based on the conduciveness of the library for reading
and research activities. The study recommends the need for the library management to improve
on existing services to ensure the better use of the library and the need for the library to equip the
reference section with more relevant materials.
Keywords: utilization of library services, library services, undergraduates
Introduction
The library plays an important role in educational development. It serves as a source of information
for users. There are various functions of the library which include the need to provide timely and
accurate information to the users. Libraries primarily aim to improve the quality of life by
providing opportunities for self-learning and self –education for their users. This implies that
encouraging learning and getting educated are the dual and independent values of the library. It is
in line with this that the library needs to have adequate knowledge of users' need because, without
this, it would be very difficult to provide effective services to the users. Traditionally, libraries'
activity must be designed to develop a system that will be based on a string service to be provided
for users’ satisfaction.

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The University library is the key element in the central dissemination of information acquisition,
particularly in the university environment. There are various information seekers in the university
environment. These include academic staff, students, researchers, and other users. The university
library provides various services that need to motivate users to have value for visiting the library
and simultaneously meeting the information needs of users.
Tella and Ojo (2012) state that university libraries need to assist the parents’ institutions in the
dissemination of information for them to achieve their missions and visions. This indicates that
the university library needs to provide services that will encourage users to fulfill their academic
potentials. This is in line with the submission of Kulkami and Deshpande (2012) that effective and
efficient learning activities can only take place in the university library that organises service
accordingly. Aregbesola and Oguntayo (2014) note that utilization of library services particularly
in the university environment assists users to have access to huge amounts of resources that will
assist them in their research and academic activities.
Universities students need various kinds of library services for research, self –development, and
better performances in their studies. It is in line with this, that Ugah (2008) maintains that access
and use of library services by undergraduate students in universities will surely provide relevant
and accurate information for them in their studies
Utilisation of relevant library services among university library users will assist students in
achieving their academic desires and at the same time support the university in increasing student
retention and bringing down the rate of dropout (Becker, Hartle, and Mhlauli, 2017). A critical
examination of the basic law of librarianship by Raganathan (1931) maintains that the library
resources are primarily for use. He goes further to say that library collections are for users. The
implication of this is that a library needs to make its service available and accessible in order to
promote usage.
Extant literature identifies various services that university libraries can provide which include
library orientation, bibliography services, indexing and abstracting services, reference service,
current awareness services, indexing and abstracting, selecting dissemination of information, and
a host of others. Hossain and Munshi (2015) classified various services in the library into two։
The first classification is the facilities access which includes cataloguing services, classification,
indexing and abstracting, and so on. The second classification is called quick retrieval of
information services; these include current awareness services, selective dissemination services,
open-source databases, and online public access catalog (OPAC) services, and so on. These
services help the library to support and contribute to effective learning activities, promote research,
and improve teaching. Based on this, the study intends to examine the extent of utilisation of library
service among undergraduate students in the Lagos state university, Lagos.
Statement of the problem
The university provides substantial funds for the library yearly, to render services to its users
(Ubogu & Okly, 2011). Extant literature reveals that there is poor usage of library services,
particularly in university libraries, even though these libraries were established to support parent
institutions. Poopola (2008) and Adams (2017) indicate that many undergraduate students in
developing countries are not interested in using library services compared with what is obtainable
in the developed countries. A preliminary visit to the library revealed that library services are

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under-utilized in the university library. Based on this, the researchers intend to find out the reasons
for poor utilisation of library services in the university.
Besides, various studies have been done on utilisation of library services in many university
libraries- (Akpan-Atata and Enyene, 2014; Becker, Hartle, and Mhlauli, 2017). However, there
is a paucity of literature on the availability and utilisation of library services among
undergraduate students in Lagos state university.
The objectives of the study are to։
1. identify the types of library services available to undergraduate students in the university
library in Lagos State
2. Identify various library services accessed by the undergraduate students in Lagos State
university
3. Investigate the purposes for which undergraduate students utilize library services in Lagos
State university
Literature review
Attama and Ezema (2014) opined that university libraries support educational development with
resources such as books, periodicals, journals, encyclopedia, and government publications. Adam
(2017) reveals various services and functions of university libraries which include providing
access to information resources that enhance lifelong learning. Oudua (2015) argues that
university library must identify and meet both the internal and external needs of users. The external
needs can be met through inter-library loan. Chakrabarti and Pramanik (2014) identified various
services rendered by university libraries, these include reference service through phone calls,
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI), Online Public Access (OPAC), Current Awareness
Service (CAS), inter-library loan, attending to reference queries, access to national and
international databases through the Internet or another network, fax, personal contact and
attending to users at the Circulation unit, among others.
Akpan-Atata and Enyene (2014) opined that library services comprise all packaged activities
which the library renders to the users to enhance and attain the missions of the parent institution
Effective and efficient learning activities in the library can be attributed to well organized library
services (Kulkarni, and Deshpande, 2012). Kekana (2016) maintains that libraries must put
mechanisms in place to find out the attitude of users toward library services. This indicates that
users need to be satisfied with library services to encourage better use. Ikenwe and Adegbilero-
Iwari (2014) noted that apart from effective library services, a university library must have suitable
learning resources, provide conducive environment and competent staff. These will permit users
to have confidence in library activities.
It is important for libraries to always provide effective service to adhere to policies of high
standards of provision of information and information services delivery, as advocated by the
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions IFLA ( 2013) which states that
effective library services will promote users satisfaction.

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Methodology
The study employed the use of a positivist paradigm which is based on descriptive survey, to deal
with the research problem. The sample for the study was drawn from 200-500 levels. The
population of the study is 390 and proportionate random sampling technique was used to select
the respondents across all the faculties. Out of three hundred and ninety copies of questionnaire
that were administered (390). Two hundred and eighty-eight (288) copies were returned which
account for a 73.85% return rate. The sample frame for the study was the list of registered students
in the university. Data collected were analysed using simple percentage, mean, and standard
deviation. The mean was calculated as an average of each respondent per question and each
response was added and divided by the numbers of total respondents. The study also used the
International Business Machine Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBMSPSS) to analyse the
data.
Result analysis
The types of library services available to undergraduates users in the university library in Lagos
State are defined by 10 components with a scale of 2 items (available =2, not available =1).
Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data collected and the result is presented in Table 1
below;
Table 1: Library services available in public university libraries in Lagos State
S/N
Library services
Available
(%)
%
Not
Available
%
Mean
S.D
1
Reference
269
43.0
19
3.4
1.42
.311
2
Circulation
242
43.2
30
5.4
1.40
.344
3
Online service
224
40.0
48
8.6
1.37
.360
4
Orientation services
214
38.2
58
10.3
1.26
.508
5
User education
services
212
37.9
60
10.7
1.25
.550
6
Selective
dissemination of
information services
179
32.0
98
17.5
1.18
.504
7
Current Awareness
services
158
28.2
114
20.3
1.17
.430
8
Reprographics
services
150
26.8
122
21.8
1.14
.436
9
Room Reservations.
135
24.1
137
24.1
1.10
.548

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10
Inter library loan
services
118
21.0
158
27.7
1.04
.553
Source: Field Survey 2019
The research finding in Table 1 established that there are various services available to users at the
Lagos State University library, such as reference services, circulation service, online services,
reprographic services, current awareness service among others. The finding however revealed that
reference services (𝑥̅ = 1.42) were the most available as indicated by the respondents. This was
closely followed by circulation services (𝑥̅ = 1.40) and online services (𝑥̅ = 1.36).
Library services accessed by the undergraduates in Lagos State University
Library services accessed by the undergraduates in Lagos State University is defined by 10
components with a scale of 2 items (accessed =2, not accessed =1). Descriptive statistics was used
to analyse the data collected and the result is presented in Table 2 below;
Table 2: Types of Library services accessed by undergraduate users in the library
Source: Field survey 2019
In Table 2 above the finding revealed that the library service mostly accessed by undergraduates
is the reference services as submitted by the majority 269 (93.2%) of the respondents, followed by
circulation services which were accessed by 90.1% of respondents. Also, 254(88.2%) of the
respondents claimed to have access to online services. However, interlibrary loans have the least
access as indicated by 47.9% respondents.
The purpose for the Use of Library Services
S/N
Library services
Accessed
Not Accessed
Mean
S.D
1
Reference
269(93.4)
19(6.6)
1.48
.40068
2
Circulation
260(90.2)
28(9.7)
1.45
.44357
3
Online service
254(88.2)
34(11.8)
1.38
.43698
4
Orientation services
230(79.9)
58(20.1)
1.35
.53457
5
User education services
227(78.8)
11(3.8)
1.34
.55414
6
Current Awareness services
224(77.8)
64(22.2)
1.26
.52961
7
Selective dissemination of
information services
204(70.8)
84(29.2)
1.25
.48017
8
Reprographics services
167(58.0)
121(42.0)
1.23
.47851
9.
Room Reservations
151(52.4)
137(47.6)
1.22
.61608
10
Inter library loan services
138(47.9)
150(52.1)
1.21
.62775

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The purposes for which undergraduates utilized library services in Lagos State University is
defined by 10 components measured with a scale of 4 scale items (Strongly Agree=4, Agree =3,
Disagree =2, Strongly Disagree =1). Descriptive statistics was used to calculate the data collected
and the results are presented in Table 3 below.
Table 3 Purpose for the Use of Library Services
S/N
Purpose of using the
library services
S.A
%
A
%
D
%
SD
%
1
I use the library for my
research because it is a
convenient and
conducive
environment for
learning
184
63.9
93
32.3
8
2.8
3
1.0
2
I use the library to
study for my
assignments and exams
I use the library so that
166
57.6
102
35.4
14
3.9
6
2.0
3
I can access online
reference materials
139
48.3
129
44.8
12
4.2
8
2.7
4
I use the library
because I can easily
connect to the internet
and database
127
44.1
113
39.2
32
11.1
21
7.3
5
I use the library to have
access to current
journals in my field of
study
108
37.5
123
37.8
47
16.3
10
3.5
6
I use the library to get
quick access to my
information needs
108
37.5
123
37.8
46
16.0
11
3.8
7
I use the library to have
access to computers
which will enable me
quick access to
information.
108
37.5
123
37.8
47
16.3
10
3.5
8
I use the library for the
purpose of making
cheap photocopy
101
35.0
124
43.1
50
17.4
13
4.5
9
I use the library so that
I can read daily
newspapers
94
32.6
95
33.0
79
27.4
20
6.9
10
I use the library
because the staff are
friendly and ready to
93
32.3
128
44.4
57
19.8
20
6.9

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assist me in my
research and
assignment
Source: Field survey 2019
Table 3 above revealed that the majority of the respondents184( 63.9%) claimed that they used
library because of the conduciveness of the environment for learning, followed by166 (57.6%)
respondents who submitted that they use the library purposely to study for their assignments and
exams, and 139 (48.6%) respondents claimed they used the library to have access to online
reference materials.
Discussion of the findings
The result of this study established that there are various library services available to users at Lagos
State University library such as reference services, circulation services, and online services. The
result of this finding supported Ishola and Olurotimi (2014) in a similar study in selected
universities in South west Nigeria which revealed that reference services, circulation services, and
online services were the most available library services rendered to the users in most universities
in the South west, Nigeria. Also, the finding of the study supported the finding of Motiang, Wallis,
and Karodia (2014) in a similar study at the University of Limpopo, South Africa, the study
indicated that reference services, circulation services, and online services were rated as the most
available services in the library to the university undergraduate students. In the same view, the
finding of the study corroborated the finding of Bhattachrjee (2014) at Tripura University, India
on the availability of library services. The finding indicates that reference services, circulation, and
e-resources were the most available library services rendered in the university library.
The finding revealed that reference services are the most accessed library services. This supported
the findings of Deng (2014) who indicated that many universities in India patronize university
libraries mostly because of the quality of the reference materials in the reference section of the
library. Similarly, Abdullahi and Mamza (2014) in a study in Nigeria indicated that reference
services were the most accessible library services among students of the College of Agriculture,
Maiduguri, and Ramat Polytechnic Maiduguri, Nigeria. Sobel (2008) also affirmed that reference
services were the most accessible services among undergraduates of the University of Colorado,
Denver in the United States. This finding also supported the submission of Mairaj and Naseer
(2013) that, library users at Punjab Institute of Cardiology, India used reference service mostly.
Another finding of the study revealed that the conduciveness of the library for effective teaching
and learning is the main reason for using the library services in the university. This finding
corroborated the findings of Tella and Ojo (2012) that many undergraduates use university libraries
in Nigeria due to the conducive nature of the library particularly with the availability of various e-
resources and internet services. The finding is also in consonance with Sriram and Rajev, (2014),
who investigated the impact of academic library services on user satisfaction at Sur University,
Oman, the result revealed that students used the university library because the library is very
conducive for learning which encouraged them to engage in research activities.
Conclusion Primarily, this study revealed that there are various library services rendered in the
university library such as reference services, circulation services, and online services. The library

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service that is mostly accessed in the library is the reference services. The major purpose of using
library service is due to the conducive nature of the library for learning and research activities.
Recommendations
Based on the findings the followings recommendations were made. The university management
needs to provide more services for the library and the existing library services should be more
useful by the students. More reference materials should be bought for the university library.
Also, more facilities should be put in the library such as air conditioners, reading tables and chairs,
and a host of other facilities that will motivate more users to the library. The university
management needs to make funds available for buying the necessary facilities that will make
learning and research conducive for the users in the library.
The study contributes to knowledge by providing fresh data about the utilisation of library services
in the university library. Based on the research knowledge it seems this study is the first of its kind
that will examine the use of library particularly in the Lagos state university Lagos. The study also
joined in the discussion on users’ education.
The limitation of the study lies in the fact that the findings should not be generalized to other
universities because of the limited of the population of the study. However, the study can be
replicated in other universities in the country.
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Authors’ Biographies
Ilori, Maria Edeole (Mrs) was born into the family of Mr. & Mrs. Emmanuel Ejomarie. She hails
from Emede in Isoko South, Delta State. She obtained NCE in Agricultural Education from
Michael Otedola College of Primary Education (MOCPED), Epe, Lagos State. She also obtained
BLIS at the Tai Solarin University of Education. She later obtained MLIS at the Federal University
of Abeokuta. She is presently a Librarian I in MOCPED. She has published widely in
Librarianship. Her area of interest is User Education.
Owolabi, Kehinde Abayomi is the Head of Library, Institute of Human Resources Development,
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA-Edu.) degree from
the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and a Master's degree from the University of Ibadan,
Nigeria. He also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Zululand, South Africa. He is a prolific
writer and scholar of repute with over forty publications in both local and international journals.
He has equally participated in several conferences, both within and outside the country. His major
research interests include social informatics and user education.