The Impact Of Library Services On Students’ Performance

Methods

Topic: Impact of library services on students in learning institution.

Library is a vital facility in any learning institution. It is the resource which forms the central nerve of academics in an institution. Institutions of higher learning have taken pride of having large and best equipped libraries (Smith, 2011). In fact having a library is one of the requirements for any institution of higher learning to be certified. Research findings have it that presence of a library in an institution has gone a long way in improving the quality of learning in those institutions (Lance, 2014). Other research studies have gone an extra mile to compare whether the overall results of students at lower levels who study in schools with libraries and those who study in schools without libraries (Rodney, 2010). According to a study conducted by (Todd, 2003) in Ohio, 54% percent of the students attested to the fact that presence of library in their schools has impacted on their studies positively.

Despite having lecturers in the lecture halls and having been supplied with reading materials, students still find it necessary to visit the library (Daniel, 2011). It was found to be a pattern in various institutions that few students visit the library on normal tuition days but the number soars when the date for examination draw near. It is this unique trend that has made the research study to pose the question, “what special services does the library offer to students more than the lecture materials?”

This research study could not have a census of all students studying in institutions where there are libraries. This was because of geographical area to be covered and financial constraints. As a result a sample population was arrived at since it was representative of the whole population.

The results of this research will fill up the gap that has been existed in the literature about the impact of library services on students’ performance. Opinions from students will also help various school administrators to better understand the various equipment and books that they require in the libraries. The findings from the research will go a long way in adding up to the literature that has existed about the importance of library in learning institutions.

The research study encountered a few challenges. One of the main challenges was that of students asking for motivation in monetary form so as to take part in the survey. Another limitation that the study encountered was that some participants dropped midway before concluding the survey. Lastly, some respondents were not honest.

Results

Data collection

A primary approach was employed in data collection. Questionnaires were used. This method of data collection was appropriate since there was need to have students’ opinion on various issues which is qualitative data.

Potential sources of errors

Some of the errors that could interfere with the completeness of the data collected were errors due to omission. Some data could have been omitted due to human errors during data entry. Another potential source of error was error due to biasness. This is an error that occurs due to the researcher choosing to give leading answers during interviews.

Prior to performing data analysis, the data was checked for reliability and validity

Reliability test

Table of results

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach’s Alpha	N of Items
.162	8

Table 1

As can be observed from the table above, we had a Cronbach’s value of 0.162. This is an indication of low internal consistency.

Item-Total Statistics
	Scale Mean if Item Deleted	Scale Variance if Item Deleted	Corrected Item-Total Correlation	Cronbach’s Alpha if Item Deleted
what do you do there?	23.3333	57.381	-.205	.223
do you usually find material you need?	23.6000	51.543	.320	.104
describe the services you received	23.9333	52.781	.106	.139
how satisfied are you?	23.6000	51.686	.256	.110
how frequent do you visit the library website?	23.8667	48.124	.507	.036
what is the best time for you to use the library?	23.8667	49.410	.524	.059
the areas you think the library can improve on	24.0000	62.000	-.525	.290
times_you_visit_library_in_a_week	12.5333	6.124	.218	.156

Table 2

From the table above, the values of alpha Cronbach’s item can be observed. From this, it can be seen that only two values were worth deleting. The items with item values of .036 and .059 were the ones that were supposed to be deleted.

Statistics
age
N	Valid	15
Missing	15
Mean	20.4000
Median	19.0000
Mode	19.00
Std. Deviation	4.13694
Variance	17.114
Minimum	18.00
Maximum	35.00

Table 3

The table above shows the summary statistics for the ages of the students. The parameters provided by the summary include measures of central tendencies and measures of dispersion. The measures of central tendencies include mean, median and variance. Measures of dispersion include standard deviation and variance. It can be observed that the mean age was 20.4 years while the modal age was 19 years. The ages deviated from the mean by a standard deviation of 4.13.

 

Figure 1

The bar graph above shows the distribution of students by gender. It can be seen that the number of males and females are almost the same. There were 7 female students and 8 male students.

age
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	18.00	2	6.7	13.3	13.3
19.00	7	23.3	46.7	60.0
20.00	3	10.0	20.0	80.0
21.00	2	6.7	13.3	93.3
35.00	1	3.3	6.7	100.0
Total	15	50.0	100.0
Missing	System	15	50.0
Total	30	100.0

Table 4

The figure and table above shows the distribution of the ages of the students. It can be observed that the ages follow a normal distribution. Medium ages are more in number while the young and the oldest students are few in number hence the dome shaped distribution.

what do you do there?
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	research	8	26.7	26.7	26.7
study	12	40.0	40.0	66.7
borrow book	6	20.0	20.0	86.7
other	4	13.3	13.3	100.0
Total	30	100.0	100.0

Table 5

Table 5 above show the activities the students do in the library. It can be observed that majority of the students (12) go to the library to study while 8 of the students go to the library to do research work. On the other hand, 6 out of 30 students said that they went to the library to borrow reading materials while 4 went to do other activities which were not specified.

Gender	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
F	Valid	Average	4	57.1	57.1	57.1
Fair	2	28.6	28.6	85.7
Good	1	14.3	14.3	100.0
Total	7	100.0	100.0
M	Valid	Average	6	75.0	75.0	75.0
Good	2	25.0	25.0	100.0
Total	8	100.0	100.0

Discussion

Table 7

The table above shows the students opinions about learning resources that they used in the library. As can be observed, in general the students rated the materials as average. To be specific, the number of females who rated the materials to be average was 57.1% of the total population sample. On the other hand, the males who rated the learning materials they found in the library as average were about 57%. However, 25% of male students and 14% of their female counterparts rated the materials as good.

It can be observed that majority of the students were from Egypt. They were 18 out of the total 30 students. They were followed in number by students from Jordan who were 6 in number. Students from Syria were 4 while the rest of the countries were represented by 2 students each.

describe the services you received
	Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	staff was helpful and pleasant	20	66.7	66.7	66.7
staff was too busy to help me	4	13.3	13.3	80.0
did not ask for help	4	13.3	13.3	93.3
staff did not have knowledge to help me	2	6.7	6.7	100.0
Total	30	100.0	100.0

Table 8

Majority of the students (20) described the staff as helpful and pleasant. Four students said that the staff was too busy to help him while another four did not ask them for help. About 2 staff did not have the knowledge to help the student.

From the research’s analysis is accurate to conclude that majority of the students were satisfied with the library services. This was confirmed by the fact that more than 70% attested to being satisfied with the services. Majority of the students in the University came from Egypt. The research was not able to establish the cause of this high number but concludes that it might be due to the University’s proximity to Egypt. Majority of students in learning institutions find the library so important for studying rather than other activities like borrowing books and the rest. This was confirmed by the statistics found by the research. 12 out of 30 students went to the library to do study while 8 went to do research. Though majority of the students were satisfied and described the library staff as pleasant and helpful, there is need for institution administrators to evaluate workers performance periodically as some were found to understand little about the library and therefore could not help the students.

Conclusion

This report after thorough analysis of the data collected from the college students, conclude that proximity of an institution to a particular geographical area could be the reason as to why a better percentage of students in any learning institution is found to be coming from around or in the same country as to where the institution is located. Libraries have impacted positively on the academic progress of students in learning institutions. This is so going by the responses of the students who gave positive comments about how helpful the library was. The main activity that takes place in libraries is studying followed by research work.

References

New maxico library. (2017, 4 14). Retrieved from www.nmstatelibrary.org: https://www.nmstatelibrary.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206&Itemid=104

R.J.Todd, Student Learning Through Ohio School Libraries, 2008.

G. Smith, Texas school libraries: Standards, resources, services, and students’ performance,2011.

C. Lance, The impact of school library media centers on academic achievement, 2014.

J. Rodney, How school librarians help kids achieve standards. Denver, CO: Library Research Service, 2010.

O.J Daniel The role of public libraries in promoting adult education in Nigeria, 2011.