Effect of Environmental Factors on Students’ Use of University Libraries: A Case Study

Abstract

Adequate attention to environmental factors is essential for effective learning in any university. This article therefore, evaluated and assessed the extent environmental factors namely, ventilation,, noise and physical facilities influence the undergraduate students’ use of university libraries. The study population was 1,453 and the survey research method was used for the study. The main instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed to the undergraduate students in the six universities investigated. The university librarians of the six universities investigated were also interviewed. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage tabulation were used in analyzing the data. Results showed that environmental factors have significant effect on undergraduate students’ use of university libraries in Nigeria. To improve the level of environmental factors in Nigerian university libraries, majority of the respondents indicated the need to control noise in the reading areas of the university libraries, provision of adequate physical facilities as well as provision of good ventilation in the university libraries. It is recommended that adequate environmental factors should be provided by the university managements in Nigerian federal university libraries.