Staff development programme in the digital era: A study of selected university libraries in Ondo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The digital era has placed necessity on library staff to get acquainted with evolving technologies for maximal use and modern service delivery. New competencies and capacities need to be developed and sustained to meet the changing trends and function effectively. Staff
Development (SD) is therefore, important to achieve effective service delivery in the library. This study, therefore, investigated the staff development activities operating in 3 selected university libraries in Ondo State, Southwest, Nigeria. The study adopted a survey design and a structured questionnaire was used to collect data while total enumeration technique was used to cover the population. 47 copies of the questionnaire were administered and 37 were found usable. Frequency counts, percentages, tables and Pearson Product Moment
Correlation were used to analyse data collected. Findings revealed that the high commitment of library management to SD was ineffectual since the SD programmes (SDPs) were grossly insufficient and needed to be upgraded. The SDPs were beneficial; added value to service
provision, enabled efficient execution of duties and inspired the library staff. The major SDPs participated in were reading of instructional guides, workshop/seminars, formal education and teleconferencing. The major inhibitors of SD were irregular sponsorship, supervisor’s
disapproval, lack of time, workload and non-recognition of the certificate obtained. There was no significant difference between staff development participated in by the library personnel in the different universities (F=1.27; p=0.295> 0.05); the relationship between staff
development and inhibitors was positive and significant (r=0.541; p=0.000< 0.05); there was no significant relationship between benefits and inhibitors of staff development (r=0.027; p=0.876>0.05). The study recommended that library management should ensure adequate sponsorship of staff among others.