ABSTRACT

This study examined the methods of book acquisition in academic libraries: a study ofAbia State polytechnic Aba. The study was guided byfive (5) purposes andfive research questions. The research design was descriptive survey with a population of 38 consisting of all Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Library staff.. The instrumentfor data collection was questionnaire on methods ofbook acquisition and it is made up ofsix sections "A ”, “B”, “C”, “D”, “E” and “F”. Section A collects the demographic data of the study population, section B collected information on methods adoptedfor book acquisition, section C gathered information on the extent by which the methods are used in acquiring books, section D gathered data on preferred book acquisition, section E collected information] on the factors militating against book acquisition while section F bordered on strategies to overcoming factors militating against book acquisition in Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Library. The questionnaire was designed in line with four point likert rating scale. Thirty-eigth copies of the questionnaire were administered of which thirty-eight was correctly filled and returned showing 100% response rate. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that the following are the types oflibrary resources utilized in Abia State polythecnic, Abia State Textbooks, Internet, Bibliographies, Journals, encyclopaedia, Dictionaries, Maps & atlas, Computers, CD-ROM data base, E-books, Directories, Magazines, E-journals, Charts, and Motion Pictures. The finding of this study revealed that Donation, membership of associations and exchange ofmaterials between libraries are the major methods adoptedfor book acquisition in Abia State Polytechnic Library.lt also revealed that factors militating against book acquisition in Abia State Polytechnic Library, Aba includes: Lack offunds, Exchange rate, Economic recession, Hike in prices, poor internet connectivity among others Recommendation were also given which are more effort should be put to ensure high exploitation of method of acquisition, there should be adequate provision offund to ensure acquisition ofinformation resources among others.