Public Service Librarianship: Need for Effective User Education and Information Literacy Programmes – The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

Library patrons are the ultimate consumer’s of the
librarian’s services. But if the patrons are not knowledgeable in
the use of the library, they are bound to suffer frustrations.
Hence the major objective of this paper is to examine the
importance of user education and information literacy. The two
concepts – user education and information literacy fall within the
purview of the public service librarians who are also known as
pubic relations agents in the library. The major finding of the
study is that Nigerian academic libraries are still lagging behind
in service delivery in the areas of user education and information
literacy. It is, therefore, recommended that literacy schools
should incorporate user education and information literacy in
their curricula that library manager should organize seminars
and workshops, that orientation programmes should be
organized for fresh students and that librarians should be
trained to acquire ICT skills.

KEYWORDS: Academic Libraries – Nigeria – Public Services Information Literacy User Education