Human resources capacity challenges in special school library for the blind in South-East, Nigeria

Abstract

There is a dearth of trained library personnel in the government-owned special school for the visually impaired libraries in South-East, Nigeria. This study x-rayed the visually impaired training centers available in South- East Nigeria to find out the number of personnel trained within the period of 2015-2019 as well as the causative factors. The study employed oral organized interviews, statistical records, and an observation checklist. From the findings, out of the 4 Organized Special Need Persons Care-takers Training Centers, only 2 had training, while the remaining 2 had no training. Records show that within five years, a total of 367 persons were trained in different specialties: Special Education Teachers 315; Special Librarian 0; Victims of Eye Injury or Disease 25; and Persons with Special Interest 27. From the records, there is no recorded graduation of trainees for special librarians. The observation checklist conducted showed the dearth of state-of -the- arts-facilities in the centers. Poor functionality and utilization of the training centers and Special Librarian ranking zero in the training were the major cause of human resource challenges bedeviling the special school library for the visually impaired in South-East, Nigeria. It becomes a great burden in the provision of information needs of this fast-growing number of visually impaired student library users. It is therefore imperative that the South-East Government provides specialized personnel to tackle these challenges through the utilization of the various training centers; creation of wider special education librarians’ awareness in professional meetings, conferences, seminars, and workshops, establishing special library / training centers in all special educational institutions in Nigeria among others.