ABSTRACT

Thisstudy was aimed at examining the utilization ofinformation resources inpublic libraries using the Abia State Library Board, Umuahia, as a case study. The study was guided byfive (5) specific research objectives. The descriptive survey design was adoptedfor the study, with a population of 84 registered users ofthe library. The complete census sampling technique was used because the whole study population was considered as the sample size. Datafor the study was collected using the questionnaire instrument from 74 respondents who successfully completed and returned the questionnaire distributed to them. The data generated were analyzed using the descriptive statistics to determine the mean scores andfrequency counts in line with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) model. The study revealed the information resources utilized by the users to include: textbooks, magazines, dictionaries, journals, newspapers, novels, handbooks, encyclopedias, reports, internet articles, etc. It also revealed that the extent of utilization of information resources in the library is high. The studyfurther revealed the reasonsfor utilization of information resources by the users to include: know what is happening around, prepare for examinations, prepare for interviews, develop reading habits, reading for leisure and entertainment, for job application, acquire health, political and agricultural information, as well as conduct researches. The study also revealed the factors militating against the utilization of information resources in Abia State Library Board, Umuahia, to include: inadequate funding, outdated information resources, non-awareness ofavailable information resources, inadequate information retrieval tools, noisy environment, poor attitude oflibrary staff to users, etc. However, based on the factors militating against the utilization ofinformation resources by the users, the study conclusively revealed some solutionsfor enhancing the utilization ofinformation resources in the library to include: provision ofcurrent, adequate and relevant electronic and print-based information resources, provision of ICT facilities to enhance the utilization of e-resources, provision of conducive reading environment, recruitment ofmore qualified andfriendly library staff, creation of awareness about available information resources in the library, provision of adequate fundingfor the library, etc.