Investigation on the Use of Library on the Academic Achievement of Students in Universities

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

A library is a collection of recorded knowledge in the form of books, manuscripts, journals, and other printed or written materials. Non-fiction works such as biographies, histories, and other factual reports; creative works such as poetry, novels, short stories, music scores, and photographs; reference works such as encyclopedias that provide factual information and indexes that help users find information in other sources; periodical publications such as magazines, scholarly journals, and books published as part of a series. Common types of works that are included in these categories include: reference works such as encyclopedias that provide factual information and indexes As the number of people who play records, CD-ROMs, audiotapes, and videotapes in their homes has expanded, library collections have started to contain these types of media in addition to others (Mohammed and Makki, 2022).

According to Onuoah (2020), there is a favorable correlation between the presence of school libraries and the overall learning results of children. According to him, the students who made regular use of the library had better test results than those students who did not make frequent use of the library. Those pupils did not make frequent use of the library. The majority of students in today’s society do not make use of the libraries for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a lack of familiarity with the use of the catalogue, which assists library users in locating or identifying the materials that they require; additionally, there are not enough orientations or seminars geared specifically toward students that cover how to make use of libraries. Therefore, Adeoye (2019), in his study on the impact of the school libraries on students’ academic achievement, found that, in most cases, learning achievement is dependent on the students’ use of the libraries and positive study habits. Adeoye’s research was conducted at a school library in Nigeria.

The vast majority of pupils in Nigeria do not make it a practice to visit their schools’ libraries on a regular basis. According to Ayo (2017), the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has led to an increase in the number of students who get the resources they need from the internet rather than making frequent trips to libraries.

In addition, the majority of the educational resources found in Nigeria’s school libraries are considered to be out of date. Therefore, pupils like using resources found on the internet, which they believe to be more current in terms of information outflow than those found in the school libraries. According to Adeleke (2021), there are a number of issues that contribute to the poor usage of libraries by a significant number of Nigerian students. The issues include a lack of organization of orientation courses for students, an inadequate supply of experienced library professionals, a lack of finances to offer suitable and up-to-date books, encyclopedias, and other resources in the school libraries, and so on (Adeleke, 2021). According to Adeleke, these factors have contributed to the low educational standards that exist in Nigeria as well as the poor academic achievement of pupils there.

Research findings that were conducted by Perkins (2021) and Atkins (2022) consistently showed that there is a strong relationship between library use and the academic success of students, at all ages, from the primary school level all the way up to the university level. This was the case regardless of the subject matter that the students were studying. Students that read a significant amount, make use of local libraries, and comprehend the material they read often have success academically. Children who are exposed to story book reading before they go to school tend to have larger vocabularies, greater general knowledge, and better conceptual development than their peers who do not read. This is according to Ninio (2020), who states that the relationship between reading and learning begins even earlier in the pre-primary school years. In addition to this, kids are able to read and write with much less difficulty and in a shorter amount of time compared to their peers who do not read very often.

Reading is a habit that may be acquired as early as infancy (Mbise, 2017). Therefore, kids who do not cultivate the habit of reading will not read in the school libraries, even if they are required to go there and read; this is the root cause of the poor academic performance of students who do not make frequent use of the libraries. Smith (2015) conducted a research in which the academic accomplishment of students who make regular use of the libraries was compared with the academic achievement of students who did not make use of the libraries. The results showed that students who read and did research in libraries on a regular basis scored much better than their counterparts who did none of these things or who just sometimes visited the libraries. According to Hunter (2019), who believes that students’ high levels of academic performance may be attributed to their frequent and appropriate usage of libraries: For example, kids may access information that is more recent in the school libraries, and they can acquire a significant amount of knowledge by reading books that are both current and of high quality that they find in such libraries.

Anyadike (2020) discovered in a similar research on the association between the usage of library facilities and students’ academic performance that students’ academic performance is better when they regularly use the school libraries than when they do not use the school libraries at all. Based on these findings, Anyadike made the recommendation to students that they should make regular use of the library resources in order to reach the highest possible level of high academic accomplishment or academic excellence in their academic endeavors.

Studies conducted on the library system in the United States by (Allport, 2020), Alban and Lance (2015), and others showed that professionally trained school library media specialists have a positive effect on students’ academic performance; that library media specialists need the support of teachers and principals in order to be most effective; and that support staff is essential if library media specialists are to fully affect students’ academic achievement in at school. Other findings demonstrated that library media specialists perform the dual role of educator and learner. Furthermore, it was discovered that in-service training providers for educators and competent library specialists play a crucial part in extending access to information technology beyond the confines of the library and into the classroom (Lance, 2018).

If students are going to see any kind of noticeable improvement in their academic performance at school as a result of using the library, then the school counselors’ roles are going to be of the utmost importance. For instance, school counselors are regarded as experts because of their deep roots in altering the unfavorable personalities or attitudes of individuals or groups of individuals and leading them to the appropriate ways of behaving in order to achieve positive results through the use of guidance and counseling techniques. In this respect, the responsibility of the school counselor is to provide guidance and instruction to the children on the appropriate and most successful methods to begin using the library resources so that they may achieve high levels of academic success while attending the school (Anyanwu, 2022).

In addition, counselors need to conduct orientation courses, seminars, and workshops in order to effectively utilize the counseling tactics they have developed at order to change the students’ unfavorable attitude regarding the usage of libraries in our tertiary educational institutions.Therefore, this study will look into investigating the use of library on the academic achievement of students  in universities.

  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Students’ use of, or lack of use of, the school libraries is one of the factors that goes into determining students’ levels of educational achievement. For example, the purpose of the library is to assist students in achieving their full academic potential so that they may go on to lead successful lives as contributing members of society. Sadly, the majority of students do not feel it is necessary to spend time in the library reading or doing research that would be advantageous to their academic future. This is due to the fact that the majority of students are not familiar with how to make use of the library materials or how to locate or identify the kind of books that they want to read, and many more students despise having to sit still for hours in order to read or study in the library, while others would rather spend their time “jisting” away their time outside of the library than keeping quiet and studying in the library (Anyanwu, 2022).

The negative or bad academic performance, overall low educational standards, and the consequent vast and persistent examination malpractices in Nigerian schools today are all said to be caused by these believed causes (Anyanwu, 2022). The majority of students make insufficient, improper, or no use of the libraries and the services they provide, which contributes to the overall issue of widespread academic failure among students in the country’s internally and externally administered standardized tests.

As a result of the negative treatment they receive from the majority of library staff, who appear to be untrained and, as a result, lack the knowledge and experience in library attendance and the use of it, many students either do not use the libraries at all or only use them insufficiently. This is another significant factor that contributes to the low level of library usage among students. The deficiencies of the library attendants and personnel often result in the students developing a fear of simply visiting the library, much alone sitting down and reading there. This is especially true when compared to the likelihood of the students reading in the library. As a result, the purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of student access to school libraries on their academic achievement and the implications of such access for counseling.

The vast majority of postsecondary educational institutions do not have library counselors who are trained in ways to assist students and library personnel in cultivating positive attitudes regarding the usage of libraries and the advantages that come along with it. Students who have a negative attitude towards the use of the libraries are not helped out of their academic predicaments because school library counselors are not being employed, and this has continuously affected the academic achievement of many students in Adekunle Ajasin University and other Universities in Nigeria.

  OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of the study is to investigate the use of library on the academic achievement of students  in universities. The following were the specific objectives of the study:

i.          To find out the relationship between the use of school Library and academic achievement students’

ii.        To examine whether School counseling have a significant association with students use of school Library.

iii.      To assess whether there is any difference between the academic achievement of students’ who use the libraries and those who do not.

iv.      To investigate whether there is gender difference in the academic achievement of students due to the use of libraries.

   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions were raised in this study:

i.          Is there a  relationship between the use of school Library and academic achievement students?

ii.        Does School counseling have a significant association with students use of school Library?

iii.      Is  there any difference between the academic achievement of students’ who use the libraries and those who do not?

iv.      Is there a gender difference in the academic achievement of students due to the use of libraries.

  SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The following individuals would benefit from this study:

Students: One of the major significance of the study is to bring to light the importance of school libraries in enhancing students’ academic performance thus achieving high academic success in their educational career. This is because, if students generally imbibe the culture of reading and making use of the library facilities in the school, their academic achievement would be improved and the seemingly low academic standards in the school system will be remedied. The findings and recommendations of this Study would help students to be enlightened on the issue of using the library facilities in order to maximize their academic success in their academic pursuit in the schools

Teachers: Not only the students will be benefiting from the recommendations and finding of this study, teachers would also find this study very informative, as they would be better informed and exposed to the issue of students’ use and or non-use of the libraries as determinants of their academic performance in the school. This study will help teacher greatly because, if students, through this study, learn how to make proper use of the libraries and the maximization of their educational standards are assured, teachers’ work will be easier and the glory will also go to them.

Parents: Parents would benefit from the study because they would be able to understand the benefits inherent in the use of the libraries and the consequence in the none or inadequate use of it by their children in the school. This study will be educative and informative to the parents because the knowledge they would gain from this study will assist them to measure their children’s performance in line with use of the libraries.

The Public: Also, this study will be beneficial to the general public, who would be generally informed on the attitudes of students towards the use the libraries in the schools. This study will also serve as a reference material to both new and old researchers and scholars on the issue of libraries. Library staff, the school library attendants would benefit from the finding and recommendations of this study, because, it will help them to carry out their duties effectively in a way that students will be encouraged and drawn to the libraries more frequently.

The Library Attendants: With the study and its recommendations, the library attendants would be able to get necessary information that would assist them in changing some of their negative attitudes and unfriendly dispositions that do not give students the zeal to come to the library to read or study. The recommendations of study will urge the library authorities to put in place a training and development programme that would help the library attendants to sit up and do their work diligently, for the benefit of the library users, especially, the students.

The School Authorities: The content, the finding and the recommendations of this study would be very expository and important to the school management, especially at the University of Lagos. This is because, the recommendations of this study if heeded and implemented by the managers of the institution, most especially, the school authorities at the Faculty of Education, it will go a long way in helping the authorities to look into the issue of low use of the library facilities by the students and its attendant negative effects on the general standards of University of Education and more importantly, on students’ academic achievement. Will be able to device means of organizing orientation courses, seminars and workshops on the essence of using the libraries and the improvement students’ academic performance in school.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study attempts to find out the relationship between the use of school Library and academic achievement students. The study will also examine whether School counseling have a significant association with students use of school Library. The study will further assess whether there is any difference between the academic achievement of students’ who use the libraries and those who do not. Lastly, the study will investigate whether there is gender difference in the academic achievement of students due to the use of libraries. Hence the study is delimited to Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State.

  LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Just like any other research, unavailability of needed accurate materials on the topic under study, and inability to get data were among the constraints the researcher encountered in the cause of this study. Financial constraint was equally faced by  the researcher, in getting relevant materials  and  in printing and collation of questionnaires. Furthermore, time factor pose another constraint because the researcher have to shuttle between writing of the research and engaging in other academic work which made it uneasy for the researcher.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

School Library:School library is room or building for a collection of books kept there for reading;. It is also writing and reading room in an institution or school.

Academic achievements : This is the overall outcome of learning activities of students over a period of learning in a formal school environment.