Assessment of access and use of school library information resources by secondary schools students in Morogoro municipality, Tanzania.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
The paper reports results of a study on “Access and Use of School Library Information
Resources by Secondary Schools Students in Morogoro Municipality Tanzania”. The main
objective of this study was to assess access and use of library information resources by students
of secondary schools in Morogoro Municipal. The study comprised of the following specific
objectives; to investigate access and use of school library information resources by the secondary
school students; to determine the level of satisfaction of students towards school library
information resources and to find out challenges facing students in the use of school library and
how to address such challenges. The study was carried out in five purposefully selected
advanced level schools in Morogoro Municipality. Simple random sampling was used to select
30 respondents from each selected school to make a sample size of 150 respondents. The study
employed a case study research design and used combination of methods to collect both
quantitative and qualitative data. Data was collected by using documentary review,
questionnaires, interviews and personal observations. Quantitative data was analysed by using
SPSS, while content analysis was adopted for qualitative data. Key findings revealed that the
most frequently used library information sources by secondary students are only books and novels. Moreover, other library information resources, such as atlas and maps, dictionaries,
novels, audio visuals and poetry were not accessible by students hence those sources were not
satisfactory to meet their information needs. The findings further revealed that secondary school
students face many constraints in using school library including lack of current and up to date
reading materials, restricted reading hours, lack of sitting facilities, and lack of informational
professional/ librarian for processing materials. The study conclude that for effective use of
Schools Libraries by the secondary school students, there is need for current and adequate school
library information resources, provision of accommodation facilities, provision of professional
school librarians to manage libraries and conducive reading environment. These could be done in
collaboration with all stakeholders in secondary education in the country. However, the study
recommended that adequate provision of fund is necessary for the provision of current and up to
date information resources and also for the employment of qualified and trained teacherlibrarian.
Description
Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 2014; Paper 1107
Keywords
School Library, Information resources, Secondary schools students, Morogoro Municipality,