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AVAILABILITY AND USE OF LIBRARY RESOURCES IN SELECTED 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NNEWI EDUCATION ZONE OF ANAMBRA 

STATE 

 

By 

 

Ibe Peter Nnamdi 

peteribe2016@gmail.com 

Okonkwo Perpetua C. 

pep4christ404@gmail.com 

Alor Rose Amaka. 

ammyugoamaka@gmail.com 

Onyekwelu Ifeoma  

ifeonyekwes@gmail.com 

 

ABSTRACT 
The study investigated the availability and use of library resources in selected private 

secondary schools in Nnewi education zone of Anambra State. The study was prompted 

by the fact that former studies mainly focused on government-owned institutions, with 

little or no attention paid to happenings in the privately – owned secondary schools. The 

design of the study was descriptive survey. A sample of 60 respondents were 

conveniently sampled from the institutions at the ratio of 20 respondents per institution. 

Observation checklist and structured interview were instruments used for data collection 

of the study. Data generated in the study were analyzed with descriptive statistics using 

tables, frequency counts and percentages. Findings from the study show that all the 

schools have school libraries; they also have books in various subjects offered in the 

schools as well as computers in varying numbers. Also, usage of the library resources is 

low; resources mostly consulted by the respondents are science books; none of the 

schools has qualified librarian and library hour. Moreso, findings also show that the 

respondents have unrestricted access to the school libraries, but they rated their school 

libraries as fair, thereby implying lack of contentment. Based on the findings, the study 

recommended continuous awareness creation through visits by library bodies and other 

stakeholders to continually sensitize students on the need for them to be patronizing their 

school libraries. The study also recommended creation of library hour in all schools by 

policy makers to encourage students’ use of school libraries; investigating the 

information need of students and incorporating such need during acquisition of school 

library resources, as well as employment/posting of qualified librarians in all school 

libraries. 

Keywords: Availability, use, library resources, school libraries, Nnewi education 

zone. 
  



 

 

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INTRODUCTION  

Secondary School, as the name implies is the second level of education in the education 

hierarchy. It is that level of education that exists just after the primary school level and 

before the tertiary level of education. Secondary School occupies a very important 

position in the education agenda of all nations, as it prepares individuals for higher 

education by imparting in them, the necessary knowledge, skills and qualification needed 

for them to excel in future educational endeavours. It is able to do this because; it is 

equipped with both human and material Resources. Hornby(2006) defined resource as 

something that can be used to help achieve an aim, especially a book, equipment and 

others, that provides: information for teachers and students. The human resources are the 

personnel working at various levels in the school, while the material resources encompass 

the books of various types, equipment such as tables, chairs and other type of media in 

print and non-print formats that are acquired to facilitate and make this skill, knowledge 

acquisition and transfer feasible. The repository of all the information resources in the 

Secondary' School is the library. Hornby(2006) defines library as a building in which 

collections of books, tapes, newspapers and others are kept for people to read, study or 

borrow. It is the store house of knowledge. The type of library that exist in the Secondary 

School is known as the school library. The importance of the school library is such that 

Adeniji (as cited in Idiegbeyan-Ose of Okoedian, 2012) described it as the heart and soul 

of the educational system. According to the author, the role of the school library in any 

school in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized, as the library provides the necessary 

impetus to all categories of learners in the schools, from the slowest learner in the 

kindergarten, to the most intelligent senior in the high school through the provision of 

print and non-print materials to aid learning. 

  

Achebe (2008) listed the roles of the school library as provision of library hours and 

materials, teaching of reading through story-telling and games, teaching – information 

literacy skills, provision of readers guide and preservation of library materials. 

Idiegbeyan-Ose and Okoedian (2012) assert that the educational aims of the school 

library are to stimulate and enhance the reading habit and promotion of life-long learning, 

developing the ability to read in children, to help pupils to increase, and improve their 

knowledge of reading, speaking and writing, to train children to care for books and make 

good and intelligent use of the library. Others are to enhance children's reading and 

communication skills, to provide children with both current and retrospective 

information and to provide recreation. 

 

The school library therefore cannot perform it's numerous functions without the 

availability of necessary books and non-book materials, as well as personnel to direct 

and co-ordinate usage of the material resources. Availability is crucial to usage. 

According to Idiegbeyan-Ose and Okoedian (2012) a school library that is adequately 



 

 

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staffed, resourced and funded can lead to higher student achievement, regardless of the 

socio-economic or educational levels of the community. 

 

It is also by using the resources that the expected educational development and societal 

transformation are hoped to be attained (Ibe, 2014). Sharma (as cited in Busayo 2011) 

stresses that to know about the world and it's environment, a child helps himself/herself 

through reading of books, newspapers and magazines. Also, stressing the importance of 

using the library books, Panda, as cited in Busayo 2011 posit that once the child has been 

taught to read and develop a love for books, he can explore for himself/herself, the wealth 

of human experience and knowledge. Making rightful use of the resources of the school 

libraries is also very important to future development of the users of the school libraries. 

This therefore also raised the need to determine what materials that are mostly utilized 

by the students, as this will help to guard against abuse and also .help the authorities 

during acquisition so as to avoid wastage. Aruah (2011) stated that the school library is 

as good as wasted if it is not properly used by the students. 

 

In recognition of the crucial roles of school libraries in ensuring overall development, the 

Anambra State government released the sum of one hundred million naira 

(N100,000,000) for the development of libraries in two hundred secondary schools, in 

the State (Nzeagwu,2012). In making the release, the governor of the State emphasized 

that the libraries will serve as information centres, promote reading culture in children 

and act as store-house of knowledge for both teachers and students. It is however not 

known how much of this attention are being directed towards the development of 

privately owned Secondary Schools in the State, as preliminary observation by the 

researchers cast a big doubt as regards the availability and use of the resources of the 

privately owned Secondary Schools especially in Nnewi Education Zone of Anambra 

State. The role of the privately-owned institutions in the educational development of the 

State cannot be over-emphasized. It has therefore become imperative to investigate 

whether the privately-owned Secondary Schools are lagging behind in terms of school 

library development hence this study titled availability and use of library resources in 

selected private Secondary Schools in Nnewi education zone of Anambra State. 

  

Statement of the problem 
School library plays a very important role in educational development. There is therefore 

the need to equip it with the requisite human and material resources so as to enable it to 

play its roles very effectively. There is also the need to ensure that the resources of the 

school library are put to adequate use so as to ensure attainment of goals of its 

establishment. This is because, according to Aruah(2011), the school library is as good 

as wasted if it is not properly used by students. The researcher observed that whenever 

the need for development of this vital educational facility arises, attention is always 

focused on the publicly-owned schools, with little or no attention paid to the privately-



 

 

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owned schools. In view of the crucial role the private schools play in educational 

development, it has become imperative to investigate whether the private schools are 

lagging behind in terms of provision and use of library resources as preliminary 

observation suggests, with the view to proffering the ways forward, and avert decadence 

in education. This is what necessitated the study on availability and use of library 

resources in selected private Secondary Schools in Nnewi education zone of Anambra 

State. 

  

Purpose of the study 
The purpose of the study was to determine the availability and use of library resources in 

selected Private Secondary Schools in Nnewi education zone of Anambra State. 

Specifically the study sought to: 

1. Identify the resources available in the school libraries. 

2. Determine the availability of library hour in the schools. 

3. Determine the availability of librarians in the school libraries 

4. Ascertain the level of use of the school libraries by the students 

5. Ascertain the rating of the school libraries by the students 

6. Determine the most used information resources in the school libraries 

7. Identify possible impediments to effective use of the school library resources by the 

students. 

  

Significance of the study 
The study will be very beneficial to many stakeholders in education including proprietors 

of private schools, students, researchers and supervising agencies of private schools. 

It is hoped that through the findings of the study proprietors of private schools will be 

better informed on ways to ensure library development in their schools, as well as ensure 

effective usage by students. 

The findings of the study is also hoped to help students to appreciate the need for library 

use in their schools. 

The findings of the study is hoped to serve as rich source of literature to researchers on 

related topics as it can be easily consulted by them. 

Also the findings of the study will assist policy-makers and supervising agencies of 

private schools in making policy decisions that will translate to overall school library 

development in Anambra State.  

 

Research questions        
Seven research questions were formulated to guide the study as follows:- 

1. What are the resources available in the school libraries? 

2. Are there slated hours for library use in the schools? 

3. Are there professional librarians in the school libraries? 

4. What is the level of use of the school library resources by the students? 



 

 

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5. What is the rating of the school libraries by the students?  

6. What is the most used information resource in the school libraries? 

7. What are the possible impediments to effective use of the school libraries by the 

students?     

 

Literature Review 
Achebe (2008) defined school library as a library that is found in Primary and Secondary 

Schools. School library is a library established to take care of the information and 

educational resources needs of pupils, students and teachers in the Primary and 

Secondary Schools. Busayo(2011) asserts that the school library is an integral part of the 

educational system that cannot be ignored without jeopardizing the quality of education 

in schools. The author stated that the school library is an important part of elementary, 

middle and high and school programme without which students would not thrive 

academically and would find it difficult to do research before reaching college level.  

 

School library is therefore programmed to groom and nurture .pupils and students to 

imbibe the culture of reading and succeed educationally in life. As a result, it is always 

equipped with various resources such as books on various subjects taught in the schools 

and those for reference purposes. Developed ones also have computers, internet sources 

and are stocked with such media like television, radio, newspapers, magazines, films, 

projectors, tapes, maps, atlases, all housed in a conducive and comfortable 

accommodation. They also have furniture and qualified personnel to facilitate easy use 

of the library resources. The Federal Ministry of Education stresses that books that should 

be in a school library are reference books such as encyclopedia and dictionaries, books 

on non-fiction such as textbooks on subject taught in the schools, supplementary orders 

such as easy to read books and fiction materials such as novels, story books and cartoons 

(Aruah, 2011). Fayose, as cited in Aruah, 2011 stated that resources of school libraries 

are books, magazines, newspapers, films and film strips, video tape recording of all types, 

slides, computers and study kits. Nnadozie (2007) posit that resources in school libraries 

include such media like books, journals, magazines, newspapers, film strips, computers, 

tape recordings, cartoons, regalia, study kits, games, simulations, among others. Ibe 

(2014) stated that school library resources encompass both the materials and human 

resources such as books, newspaper, magazine stands, as well as personnel like 

librarians, library officers, assistants and other support staff. Aruah (2011) posit that 

employee such as librarians, teacher-librarians, library officers, library assistants, library 

attendants and library prefects are necessary to help school libraries to fulfill their 

mission depending on the school enrollment, staff collection and academic programme. 

 

In terms of use, Nnadozie (2007) stresses that contemporary school libraries are centres 

for acquisition, processing and utilization of an extensive variety of educational media-

teaching aids and learning resources. According to Anyaoku (2015) library use involves 



 

 

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the consulting, reading, borrowing and obtaining information, to socialize with friends 

and colleagues, to do class assignments, to get direction or to consult with library staff 

on topics of interest. Orji, as cited in Dulle and Bernard 2014 said that users patronize 

the school library for various reasons such as to prepare for examination, for leisure, 

recreation, serious academic work or to see a friend. Sote, Aramide and Gbotoso (2011) 

posit that the library, as the hub of educational set-up, provides information and ideas 

that are fundamental to functioning successfully in the increasingly information and 

knowledge - based society. In ideal situations, school libraries always, have hours for use 

by students and pupils, so as to aid monitoring and avoid mis-use. This is because some 

unruly students may be hiding in the libraries under the guise of reading, while in actual 

fact, they may be running away from punishment, avoiding a particular teacher or for the 

joy of being contented in playing truancy in the school. Library hour also aids in creating 

needed awareness among users, as even the classroom teachers join in urging the pupils 

and students to go to the library. This also highlights the need for adequate and qualified 

personnel to monitor and guide usage of the library resources. 

 

Authors such as Anyaoku (2015); Ibe (2014) and Aruah (2011) revealed that library use 

is always hampered by a lot of factors such as lack pf adequate resources, lack of 

accommodation, poor lighting, lack of qualified personnel, lack of internet resources, 

lack of computers and poor attitude of management. Anyaoku (2015) identified factors 

against students' use of libraries as lack of computers and internet, lack of current 

materials, hot environment, insufficient space and seats for reading and poor lighting. 

Onuoha and Subair (2013) attributed the problem of poor use of library resources to lack 

of awareness and presence of outdated books. Aruah (2011) identified factors against use 

of libraries as lack of current and up-to-date information materials, poor accommodation, 

poor library orientation, restricted library hours and lack of professional librarians. Ibe 

(2014) posit that challenges to use of libraries include poor reading culture of our people, 

un-conducive reading environment, economic situation with its negative impact on the 

people, funding problems that has made acquisition of vital resources impossible and 

lack of current books. There is therefore need to maximize use of school library resources 

for attainment of the objectives for establishing them, otherwise it will be a colossal 

failure. Other efforts in this direction have been focused on the public-owned schools 

with little or none on the privately-owned schools despite their numerous contributions 

to educational development, thereby drawing the attention of the researchers to carry out 

the study. 

  

Methodology 
The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A total of sixty 

respondents were conveniently sampled from each of the three private secondary-schools 

located at Nnewi, Amichi and Ozubulu, at the ratio of twenty students per school. They 

were selected for the purpose of responding to questions posed in the structured interview 



 

 

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to support observation made by the researchers. Thus, observation checklist and 

structured interview were adopted as instruments for data collection of the study. While 

observation checklist was adopted for collecting data in respect of research questions 1 

– 3, structured interview was used to collect data for research questions 4–7. Descriptive 

statistics using tables, frequencies was used to analyze data collected from the study. 

  

Findings: 
Research questions 1, 2 & 3: Availability of resources, library hour and library 

staff.                                . 

Table: 1 

 

Resources & Library Hour 

 

Private Secondary Schools 

OZUBULU NNEWI AMICHI 

Library Staff    

Books on reference    

Books on non-fiction    

Books on fiction    

Shelves    

Reading tables    

Chairs    

Catalogue Cabinet  — — 

Photocopiers  — — 

Computers    

Journals  — — 

Newspapers  — — 

Magazines  — — 

Internet — — — 

Radio — — — 

Television — — — 

Projectors — — — 

Video tapes  — — 

Audio tapes — — — 

Films — — — 

Library hour — — — 

  

Observation checklist as shown in table 1 reveals that all the secondary schools have 

library staffs that are in charge of their libraries. They also have books on reference, 

fiction and non-fiction, as well as reading tables, chairs, shelves and computers in varying 

numbers. They however do not have internet connection, library hour, projectors and 



 

 

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such media like television, radio and films. Interview by the researchers revealed that the 

library staffs in the libraries are not professional librarians. Students are also given 

unrestricted access to the libraries. 

Research questions 4: What is the level of use of the library resources by the students? 

Table 2:     Level of use of the library resources                               

Options Response Rate Percentage (%) 

High 8 13.33 

Moderate 15 25 

Low 37 

  

61.67 

Total 60 100 

  

Responses as shown in Table 2 shows that the level of use of the library resources by the 

students is low (61.67%) 

  

Research question 5: What is the rating of the school libraries by the students? Table 

3:      Rating of the school library by the students 

Options Response Rate Percentage (%) 

Excellent 6 10 

Good 18 30 

Fair 36 60 

Total 60 100 

Responses as shown in Table 3 revealed that majority of the students rated their school 

libraries as fair. This is despite availability of various resources in the libraries and 

unrestricted access given to the students. 

  

Research questions 6: What is the most used information resource in the libraries? 



 

 

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Table 4: Most used information resource in the libraries 

Information Resources Response Rate Percentage (%) 

Newspapers — — 

Computers               — — 

Dictionaries 15 25 

Encyclopedia           — — 

Books on Languages — — 

Literature Books 15 25 

Novels — — 

Religious Books — — 

Science Textbooks 24 40 

Social Science Textbooks     

Mathematics Textbooks 6 10 

Magazines     

Art Textbooks     

Books on Travels     

Geography Textbooks     

Computer Textbooks     

Total 60 100 

Responses as shown in Table 4 show that the few students that patronize the libraries 

mostly consult science textbooks. 

 

  

 

  

  



 

 

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Research question 7: What are the challenges to use of the libraries by the students? 

Table 5:      Challenges to use of the libraries by the students 

Challenges Response Rate Percentage (%) 

Lack of current books — — 

Poor reading culture 30 50 

Lack of awareness — — 

Lack of internet 18 30 

Restricted library hours — — 

Unfriendly staff — — 

Funding problems — — 

Poor orientation 12 20 

Total 60 100 

  

Responses as shown in Table 5 shows that there is no reason behind poor use of the 

school library resources other than poor reading culture. It can also be seen that lack of 

internet connection has its negative impact on the students' use of the library resources. 

  

Summary of the findings 
 The   private   secondary   school   libraries   have   enough   resources   to guarantee 

effective and rewarding use by students, although they have no internet connection.  

 The schools have no library hour, but   students have unrestricted access to the 

libraries. 

 The private secondary school libraries have library staffs that are in charge of 

operations, but they are not professional librarians. 

 The level of use of the library resources was low.  

 The students rated their school libraries as fair despite presence of resources and 

personnel.  

 The few students that patronize the libraries mostly consult science books. 



 

 

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 The students have no major reason for not using the school libraries other than poor 

reading culture prevalent among them, although lack of internet seem to have 

negative effect on them. 

 

Implications of the findings 
 That the secondary school libraries have enough resources, but are not used as 

expected, implies the need for continuous awareness creation. 

 That the schools have no library hour, internet and professional librarians implies that 

there is need for library hour, internet connection and employment of professional 

librarians. 

 That the level of use of the school libraries by students was low implies the need for 

more awareness creation by the schools and other stakeholders. 

 That the students rated the school libraries as fair despite presence of resources 

implies that there is need to determine the information need of the students to act as-

guide during acquisition of the library resources. 

 That the students have no major reason for not using the school libraries still implies 

need for continuous awareness creation by all stakeholders. 

  

Recommendations 
The following recommendations are hereby made based on the findings of the study and 

implications.  

 There should be continuous awareness creation through visits to school by library 

bodies and other stakeholders so as to continually sensitize students on the need and 

gains of using their school libraries.  

 Government   and   other   policy   makers   should   make   library   hour compulsory 

in all schools as it helps in sensitization.  

 Effort should be made to effect internet connection in the schools as the schools 

already have computers.  

 Government should make posting of qualified librarians compulsory in all schools 

and encourage the privately-owned ones to do so.  

 The information need   of students   should   be   ascertained   so   as to incorporate 

such needs during acquisition of school library resources. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

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