THE AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF SCHOOL LIBRARY RESOURCES AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Any person who want to get a decent and quality education must have access to informational resources that will enable them to broaden their horizons, build knowledge, and improve their academic performance by studying the works of academics in their particular areas of study. Unegbu - (2012). These materials are not only sourced by these individuals, especially when they are enrolled as students in schools, because it is part of the school management's obligation to provide them with these educational materials, thereby necessitating the availability of library resources in schools for teaching, learning, and research. The school library is an important part of the school education system that supports training. It plays a significant role in the educational and learning process. It has the potential to serve as the school's scholastic operational centre. School libraries are crucial in any supplemental school environment since their collections, when used in training, make learning easier and more reasonable for pupils. Tefko is a fictional character (2003).

For instructional purposes, school libraries are stocked with a wide variety of literature. It might include text books for school and home reading that are selected by an experienced librarian . It is an important part of every school, regardless of how educational its method of thinking is. A school library, according to Unegbu (2012), is intended to be a scholarly force to be reckoned with or a data emphasis found in elementary schools, optional schools, and educational trade schools, that is, it is a stepping stone toward a student's academic achievement. A school library, according to the researcher, is a collection of books placed at a school for use by both instructors and pupils. According to Nwaigwe (2012), school libraries are located in pre-essential and auxiliary, essential and optional schools, and include a variety of materials for little children. They provide series of teaching and learning resources for their students and teachers. School libraries, according to Aniebo (2007), preserve and develop its parent body's scholarly program only to assist understudies and instructors. According to Ugocha (2011), school libraries are libraries that are established, maintained, and regulated at essential, optional, or other post-secondary schools, such as instructor's trade schools, with the goal of providing data administrations to aid teaching and learning activities in schools. In other words, a school library is a learning center that provides both the core data items and the motivational factors, direction, and environment for learning. Anumkua, Alaehie, and Igbokwe (2016) define a school library as a data place within a school domain whose responsibilities include identifying, gathering, organizing, storing, protecting, recovering, and disseminating data to individuals from a school network, specifically instructors, students, and non-instructional exercise staff, with the goal of meeting their changing and differing academic needs. It is also said that a school library is a location where data is collected, stored, and utilized to assist and enhance every academic movement in schools. In 1961, the Nigerian government established and advanced school libraries with the assistance of UNESCO on the most effective approach of establishing school libraries. As a result of the action, the Federal Ministry of Education established school library administrations in Lagos, which eventually expanded to the state level (Ugocha, 2011: 67). The federal government then made a great step forward by allocating N 1.4 million for the renovation of elementary school libraries throughout the country in the second National Development Plan. Between 1970 and 1974, the money for this scheme flowed down to the states in the form of a percentage of the aggregate being distributed to states throughout the arrangement period. According to Ifeka (2004), this turn of events made it possible for certain governments to make favorable arrangements for the development of school libraries in their respective territories by including a monetary provision for school library enhancement in their annual budget throughout the era. Library assets are critical for an association's, division's, or unit's information and data resources. Library assets, according to Onwubiko and Uzoigwe (2004), are the whole of data items that make up a library collection. The assets are gathered in order to meet the data wants of the library's patrons and to comprehend the parent institution's goal. They divide library assets into two categories: print and non-print items. While Okoro (1999) believes that book library assets constitute the primary source of data, the print materials are in the form of books (monographs) and serials. The assets or property of a library are those that stimulate the library's regular activity. Successful library administrations are only possible when library assets are both subjective and quantitatively straightforward. As a result, without an adequate arrangement of library assets, pleasant library and data administrations are unthinkable. According to Chernik (2002), school libraries include a broad variety of media into their collections and projects, including sound cassettes, video tapes, movies of all kinds, tailored learning, and computer-assisted assistance. The study goes on to say that school libraries include books, media, and chart creation officers as well as equipment to aid instruction, whether it's TV sets, cameras, or overhead projectors. Attama and Ezema (2002) classify school library assets into books, which are made up of a lot of printed sheets bound together along one of the four edges and encased inside a profitable spread to form a volume, and other written words like pampwets, which are library assets that appeal to our senses of hearing and sight, and include slides, films, sound tapes, video tapes, PC and frill, which are electronic media and include back-up offices, fax machines, and According to Hornby (2006), accessibility means being easily accessible, not scarce or inaccessible; goods that can be obtained, purchased, or found. It is the capacity to have anything accessible to oneself, something that is free and not involved in any way. It's a presentation metric for repairable frameworks that represents both a segment's dependability and viability qualities. When a framework is suggested for use, accessibility is defined as the possibility that it will operate well. As it were, the possibility of a framework not collapsing or needing to be repaired when it should be used. The availability of a framework in a convenient manner is defined as being close, suited for being obtained, available, and ready to use. According to Dipeolu (2006), accessibility aims to achieve a goal, fulfill a capability, and create a gracefully accessible stock. It is always linked to time and has to do with a framework asset's optimal availability; an example is the assessment of a framework's uptime. One of the six fundamental elements of data security is accessibility. According to Tefko (2003), accessibility is the state of being ready and accessible when needed or demanded, while use is the use of assets to meet specific demands on a regular basis. Usage is defined as the ability to effectively employ anything available, which reveals that usage is defined by accessibility and availability, and cannot be feasible without both at the right moment. Individual use differs from person to person, and from one business association to the next, depending on their data demands and financial goals. As it stands, the kind or nature of the tasks being accomplished has an influence on use. Finally, accessibility is the state of providing and making accessible basic offices, hardware, and assets that should have been productive and effective in achieving a variety of goals in any organization or business. Use, on the other hand, is the expansion of the use of those assets made available to meet specific demands on a regular basis. As a result, the condition of offering and making open the key assets necessary for supporting the data demands of the clients is the condition of accessibility and utilization of school library assets. In this way, school library assets may be acquired in a variety of ways, including purchase, acquisition, blessings, presents, exchange, advances, and so on. According to Aniebo (2004), supplemental training will provide all grade school graduates with the opportunity to pursue a higher degree of education, regardless of sex, social status, religion, or ethnic background. It is also to provide a broader educational curriculum to prepare for differences in gifts, opportunities, and future employment, as well as to provide prepared labor at sub-proficient levels in applied sciences, innovation, and business.

The most important aspect of education is students' academic accomplishment. Schools are supposed to have an impact on students' learning, socialization, and even vocational readiness in this regard. Academic achievement is still important, despite the focus on broad understanding of educational goals. The phrase "academic success" is often used in discussions about higher education. Academic performance is a complex construct made up of a learner's abilities, attitudes, and behaviors that help them succeed in the classroom (Hijazi & Naqvi, 2016). As students go through and complete their educational experience, it is an acceptable and outstanding degree of achievement (Tinto, 2016).

As a result, students who want knowledge to complete lecture notes, compose assignments, or offer resources from their subject areas are the primary users of the school library. Students also expect libraries to supply them with non-classroom content and to serve as a school resource where they can stay up with changes in social, political, economic, and cultural issues. The school library is meant to offer simple reading that will help pupils widen their perspectives, respect and cherish their culture, build a moral and intellectual worldview, and increase academic accomplishment. As well as a venue for students to learn about the environment and graduate as well-educated and successful citizens (Aniebo, 2004).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

Any student who want to get a decent and quality education must have access to information resources that will enable them to widen their horizons, build knowledge, perform better in their studies, and learn from experts in their professions. These materials are not only sourced by these individuals, especially when they are enrolled as students in schools, because it is part of the school management's obligation to provide them with these educational materials, thereby necessitating the availability of library resources in schools for teaching, learning, and research(Aguolu2002).

The library assists instructors in achieving their aims of developing well-informed and prepared students who will continue their education throughout their lives. For the school library to operate, it requires a wide variety of information resources. This involves assisting youngsters in the development of reading habits, reading abilities, and study habits. Textbooks, publications, indexes, newspapers and magazines, reports, the Internet, videotapes and diskettes are among the types of information available in library facilities. According to Connoway and Laurence (2003), the lack of school resources such as library resources has a detrimental impact on staff and student motivation and learning. The significant unavailability of library materials in most school libraries, according to Maram and Ogun (2002), has a detrimental influence on the utilization of library resources and the academic achievement of children in schools. In other circumstances, the library may have materials available, but consumers may not be able to utilize them because they are unavailable (Aguolu2002). The researcher discovered that the problem of poor performance, poor research habits, poor reading skills, and poor learning habits is more pronounced in schools with poorly equipped libraries, limited reading times, and failing to meet the needs of students, making it necessary to investigate the availability and utilization of school library resources, as well as students' academic achievement at the University of Ilorin.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this research was to examine the availability and utilization of school library resources and academic achievement of students in the university of Ilorin. Other specific objectives include to:

i.            To examine if school library resources is available in University of Ilorin.

ii.            To examine if students utilize available library resources in the University of Ilorin.

iii.            To investigate the challenges of students in the usage of  library resources in the University of Ilorin.

iv.            To find out how the utilization of library resource has affected academic performance of students in the University of Ilorin.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions provided a guide for this study.

i.            Is school library resources available in University of Ilorin?

ii.            Do you think students utilize available library resources in the University of Ilorin?

iii.            What are the the challenges of students in the usage of  library resources in the University of Ilorin?

iv.            How have the utilization of library resource impacted academic performance of students in the university of Ilorin?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

The study developed for testing the following hypothesis:

H0: There is no significant positive relationship between utilization of library resources and academic performance of students.

HA: There is a significant positive relationship between utilization of library resources and academic performance of students.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

A vivid understanding of library resources, its importance and need for availability and utilization by students as well as the significant role it places in the academic performance of students would be of immense relevant to managements of schools, the government, researchers, students and all the various bodies that comes to play when talking of library resources and student academic performance. The outcome of the study will help students to strategize and reconstruct their attitude regarding the utilization of available library resources in their schools. It will also push them further to identify the exciting benefits that comes when school library resources are utilized by students.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will examine if school library resources is available in University of Ilorin. The study will also examine if students utilize available library resources in the University of Ilorin. The study will further investigate the challenges of students in the usage of  library resources in the University of Ilorin. Lastly, the study will find out how the utilization of library resource has affected academic performance of students in the University of Ilorin. Hence this study will be delimited to the University of Ilorin.

1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The researcher encountered various challenges during the research process. They included insufficient funds for stationery, transport and buying other important materials to facilitate the carrying of the study. Also shortage of time because the researcher conducted the study in selected schools located far apart from each other.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Library: A library is any room which contains learning resources such as books, writings and journals that students use.

School Library:  a library in public or private elementary or secondary school that serves to provide information needs of its students and the curriculum needs of its teachers and staff. The library is usually managed by a school librarian. The school library equips students with lifelong learning skills and develops the imagination, enabling them to live as responsible citizens.

Performance: This refers to the positive achievement expected from students in terms of learning and character.

Academic performance: This refers to how well or badly a student does in his/her study.

Utilization: This refers to the use of resources in order to satisfy given needs on regular basis.

Availability: This refers to the state of being ready and accessible when required or needed.

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