Library anxiety among undergraduates in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose Library anxiety is a phenomenon that is different from other academic anxiety, which has implication on physical use of libraries. This study aims to investigate the phenomenon of library anxiety among undergraduates in federal universities in North-central, Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive survey of the correlational type was adopted for the study. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting five conventional federal universities, three homogenous faculties and six departments through multistage sampling technique. Five percent of the undergraduates (797) were selected from a total sample of 15,933. The instrument used was measuring scale on library anxiety (MSLA) developed by Bostick (1992). Descriptive statistics such as percentage mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the research questions. Findings The findings revealed that majority of the undergraduates (85.0%) experienced moderate level of library anxiety across the universities at varying degree. The most prevalent aspect of the library anxiety experienced by the undergraduates was inadequate knowledge of the library (x. = 2.14). Research limitations/implications The study selected five conventional universities out of the seven federal universities in North-central, Nigeria. Originality/value Based on the findings, the study recommends library orientation programme for the undergraduates to increase their knowledge of the library. Likewise, the library staff should be more approachable and friendly so as to alleviate the library anxiety experienced by the undergraduates.