Effectiveness of Public Library in Meeting the Information Need of the Community Users: A Case Study of Amuwo Odofin Local Government of Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

At every level of education in a nation, Library is an essential part. It is established
as a social agency of civilization and development with the sole responsibility of
acquiring, processing and making available information materials that reflects
the intellectual, educational, cultural, political and other needs of the society. In
Nigeria, the public library is expected to play an indispensable role in life of the
community they serve in order to ensure the realization of national development.
Looking at the uncompromising roles of the public library, this survey looks at
the effectiveness of public library in meeting the information need of the community
Users in Amuwo Odofin Local Government of Lagos State. This study uses three
different sets of questionnaire for collection of data from the respondents. These
are a set for the Librarian/Library Officers, one for Library Users andanother set
for the Non Library Users. Data obtained for the were analysed using frequency
count and simple percentage. The study reveals lack of awareness in the
community, operation time, non conducive environment among oyhers as some
of the problems faced by the library users and the non-user inclusive. Hence,
organizing enlightenment programmes to sensitize the community, reading
competition among school childrenand much more are recommended.