ABSTRACT

 The study examined library services for sustainable healthcare delivery in Federal Medical Center, Umuahia, Abia State. It adopted the descriptive survey design with five (5) specific objectives formulated to guide the study. A population of nine (9) library staff comprising 4 professional and 5 paraprofessional staff of the FMC Library were used and there was no sample since the population of the study was already small. Data for the study were generated using a structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions. The data collection process resulted in 100% response rate and the data collected were analysed using the descriptive statistics to determine the mean scores and frequency counts. The study revealed that the various library services for sustainable healthcare delivery include: circulation services, reference services, medical research services, reprographic services, current awareness services (CAS), selective dissemination of information services (SDI), etc. It also showed that library services for sustainable healthcare delivery, among other benefits creates awareness on prevailing health situations, treatment of diseases by healthcare professionals as well as access and utilization of information on maternal and child health issues for sustainable healthcare delivery. The study also revealed that utilization of library services facilitates sustainable healthcare delivery to a high extent. It revealed that factors militating against the utilization of library services for sustainable healthcare delivery include: lack of adequate funds to acquire necessary resources, inadequate staff training and development programmes, inadequate library staff, poor power supply, low internet services, etc. Based on the findings, the study conclusively recommended that the parent institution of medical libraries should employ adequate library staff with relevant skills especially in the information and communication technology (JCT) in order to enhance effective provision of library services for sustainable healthcare delivery in Nigeria.