The Role Of Public Libraries On The Attainment Of The Health Millennium Development Goals In South-South Nigeria
Keywords:
Information Services, Millennium Development Goals, Health, Public LibrariesAbstract
This study surveyed the roles of Public libraries in the attainment of the health
aspect of the Millennium Development Goals in the South-South geopolitical zone
of Nigeria. It also identified the health-information needs of the community and
information services rendered by the publiclibraries. The role of public libraries
in the attainment of this aspect of theMDGs has been a daunting task for public
libraries as a result of government negligence. The method adopted for the study
is the survey design in which structured questionnaire was designed and used as
data collection instrument. The target population was public library staff/users
in the south-south part of Nigeria. The result showed that public libraries have
played significant role towards the attainment of health-MDGs and library users
make significant demand for all categories of health information especially in the
area of maternal and childcare. However, majority of the public libraries have no
Internet services. The findings revealed the imperativeness for all other relevant
agencies to key into the health-MDGs especially in assisting the Public Libraries.
It brought to the awareness of users, the use of public libraries in supporting
local and international policies and for the provision of information services for
library users.It is on this account that there should be more attention from
government and individuals on development of the public libraries in Nigeria.
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