Impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on rural dwellers’ participation in sustainable development targets in Nigeria:: Implications for public library services to oral societies

Abstract

This paper examined the impact of tailor-made information literacy provision on Nigerian rural dwellers’ participation in three sustainable development targets. A mixed method research design comprised of field experimental approach, site visit and focus group technique was used to collect data that answered the five questions raised in the study. From the findings, rural dwellers who received information literacy provision participated more in the sustainable development targets than their counterparts who depended only on the existing information communication systems accessible to them. Information literacy provision to a sample of 20 households had a spill-over effect on the behaviour of non-sampled households of the same village. In conclusion, the triangulation of methods used in this study showed that rural dwellers’ effective participation in development programmes can be achieved through contextual information literacy provision. This draws implications that are summarised into a model. Public libraries in Nigeria and in similar developing countries can explore the strategy conveyed in the model to launch effective outreach services to their rural dwellers.