Reading Habits of Users as Determinants of the Utilisation of Library Information Resources of Selected Public Libraries in the South West Geo-Political Zone of Nigeria (Published)
This paper examines reading habits of users as determinants of the utilisation of library information resources in two selected public libraries in the South-west geo-political zone of Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research method and utilized questionnaire to generate data for the study. Out of the three hundred and nineteen (319) copies of questionnaire distributed in the two selected public libraries, two hundred and sixty nine (84.1%) were returned with valid responses. Data were analyzed using the frequency count and percentages as well as mean and standard deviation. Five research questions were presented for the study. Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis was used to test hypotheses one at 0.01 level of significance. The result shows that there is a significant relationship between reading habits of users and utilisation of information resources of the selected public libraries in South West, Nigeria. The study concluded that many of the users of the libraries under study possess some form of reading habit, even though some actually read to pass examinations but the majority read to upgrade knowledge. The study recommended that the government should make it a priority to fund the public libraries adequately and that public library management should endeavour to invest more human and financial resources to conduct a needs assessment of users to know and understand the needs of the users. Concerted efforts should be made by the public library management to ensure that there is adequate, sufficient and up to date information resources in line with the result of the needs assessment conducted. This could be through well-organized partnership both at local and international levels.
Keywords: Library Information Resources, Public libraries, Reading Habits, Users