Abstract

The geographical location of public library and use of information resources and services was examined by the researcher using Imo state central hbrary as case study. Six (6) research objectives and one null hypothesis guided the study. Survey research design was adopted using a population of 351 which compnsed registered patrons from 2018 -2021 (310), librarians (9) and Para-professionals (32) from Imo state central library. A sample size of 120 was purposively chosen comprised all librarians and paraprofessionals and 79 registered users. Two sets of rating scale: geographical location and use of library services scale (GLULSS) and geographical location and extent of use of infonnation resources scale (GLEUIRS) were used to gather data for the study. Cronbach alpha was employed to ascertain the reliability of the instrument which yielded coefficient of 0.78 and 0.88 respectively. The research questions were answered using descriptive statistics such as mean and simple percentages while the null hypothesis was tested with Chi-square at 0.05 significance. Results of the study show that; a geographical location of a central library has a significant effect on its resources use; availability and currency of information resources has a very strong influence on its utilization. The researcher recommended that in siting public libraries, stakeholders should consult widely from library experts and professionals for most appropriate criteria for a location bearing in mind that its location affects optimal use; all stakeholders must take public library development as priority to improve grass root education development as a nation. Keywords: Public Library, geographical location, information resources, library services and use