Assessment of physical facilities and users’ satisfaction: a case study

Abstract

This study is an assessment of the new physical facilities and users’ satisfaction in University of Jos Main Library. Survey research method was adopted for the study and questionnaire was used to generate the necessary data using 834 respondents. Major findings of the study revealed that most of the respondents 395 (47.36%); were very satisfied with the type of reading tables/chairs. Also 368 (44.12%), respondents were very satisfied with the available type of computer systems. But in contrast, most of the respondents, 398 (47.72%) were very dissatisfied with the strength of the furniture and noise level from ring tones and phone conversations 351 (42.08%). They were also dissatisfied with the size of the reading space 344 (41.24%); brightness of the library when there is no electricity light 274 (32.97%); number of computers 303 (36.33%); number of charging points 271 (32.49%); number of lockers 254 (30.45%), noise level of library staff discussions 392 (47%) and other users’ discussions 501 (60.07%). Although, the majority of the respondents 678 (81.29%) prefer the new facilities rather than the old and majority of the respondents 693 (83.09%) would like the new facilities to be replicated in other satellite libraries. It was therefore recommended amongst others that user education should be given to the various library patrons on how to behave while in the library so as to minimize noise, and on how to use the library facilities so as to prolong the lifespan of the facilities.

Keywords: Assessment, physical facilities, users’ satisfaction, library resources