AN ASSESSMENT OF PROVISION, FUNCTIONALITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SCHOOL LIBRARIES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ODO-OTIN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the provision, functionality and accessibility of School Libraries in public secondary schools in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria.Methodology: A qualitative research method was adopted. Evidence was gathered through semi-structured interviews with principals, staff members, teachers in charge of the library, as well as students in all the 17 public schools being investigated. A Local Inspector of Education was also interviewed at Okuku, the headquarters of the Local Government are, who gave further insight into the issues and challenges faced by public school libraries. Observations were made and recorded on a checklist as to how the libraries in schools visited were resourced and laid out. The checklist was created according to the resources one would expect to find in a well-resourced library as described in the literature. It was used to indicate the type of resources available in the library. No attempt was made to count the number of resources that were available; it was only used to determine if the resource was present. All the seventeen (17) public secondary schools in Local Government were visited and data was collected over a period of one month in 2017. Data collected was analysed using frequency counts and simple percentages. The findings were presented tabulated according to the research objectives.Findings: The study revealed that school libraries are not provided in most schools in Odo-Otin Local Government Area. It also revealed that the few libraries that existed are majorly housed in converted classrooms, with no certified professional staff, inadequate furniture, and grossly inadequate information resources; and that accessibility to the few libraries that exist depends on the staff members that equally use them as their staff rooms. It also revealed that two schools in the Odo-Otin had benefited from Federal Government of Nigeria’s SchoolUnique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study revealed that a tier of Government in the Country is not fully implementing the National Policy on Education (2004); and that the learning environment in public secondary schools in Odo-otin is breach of Nigeria constitution on right to quality education.