Influence of staff Training on quality of Library Services. A Case Study of University of Ilorin Library

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of staff training on the quality of library services in the academic library of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. The research design used was a descriptive research survey method; the data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire designed by the researcher. To achieve the objectives of the study, five (5) research questions were developed. One hundred and seven (107) copies of the questionnaire were answered, returned, and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21) programs for data analysis. The result of the findings shows that the majority of the respondents 67(62.6%) strongly agreed that staff training programmes improved the quality of service delivery to the clienteles. The findings also show that majority of respondents indicated that off-the-job training programmes do not support by the management simply because the management feel that more hands are needed to man the library and there is no fund to support that kind of training programme. However, 88 (82.2%) respondents strongly agreed that outstanding performance should be adequately rewarded whereas 6 (5.6%) respondents disagreed. The study, therefore, recommends that the management should make provisions for librarians and other library staff to spend time in developed nation’s libraries for the purpose of skill acquisition and to be abreast of the latest development in the profession and global best professional practices.