Public Library as a Source of Business Information for Small-Scale Business Enterprises in Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study investigated public library as a source of business information for small-scale business enterprises in Nigeria. Six states in the Southwest region of Nigeria were used for the study, while purposive sampling was used to select forty small-scale businesses from each of the states, which brought the population of the study to 240. As a survey research, a questionnaire was used for data collection. The findings of the study revealed that information on sources of business funding was the major information need of small-scale businesses, while books were the most available information sources in the public library. Based on the findings, the study recommends among others, that government should provide more funding to support small-scale businesses; and that public libraries should acquire more information sources particularly those on sources of business funding, to complement available ones. The study contributes to literature and its empirical data will be useful to policymakers on how to reposition public libraries for effective provision of business information to small-scale business people.