Awareness and Experience of School Library as Determinants of Library Usage among University of Lagos Undergraduates

Abstract

The school library, being the first possible contact of students, intimates them with the common roles, functions and services offered by libraries during their primary and secondary education. Yet, some students still find it hard to make effective use of the academic library during college/university years. This study investigates awareness and experience of school library as determinants of library usage among University of Lagos undergraduates. The study used a survey research design and a pure quantitative method was adopted. Samples were selected from a population of 28,603 undergraduates within 300-600 level from nine faculties and the College of Medicine, using a multi-stage random technique and 394 respondents were selected. Questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument. The collected data was analysed, using descriptive statistics and hypotheses were tested using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Step-wise Multiple Regression analysis. The findings have revealed a large extent of school library awareness and experience and University library usage among the respondents. Also, their school library awareness and experience, individually and jointly, determine their library usage. The study concludes that early exposure to, and awareness of, library experiences among the University of Lagos undergraduates accounts for their library usage later in life. So it is recommended that primary and secondary school students should be exposed to, and be made aware of the presence of libraries in their schools by establishing standard libraries in these schools, as required by the National Policy on Education, as the basic prerequisite, among others.