STAFF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AND SERVICE DELIVERY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARY: IMPLICATION FOR KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LAGOS, NIGERIA

Abstract

The current knowledge-driven economy requires that institutions and departments adopt strategic approaches to the way their businesses are being conducted. The university in particular needs to embrace the idea of knowledge management practices to be able to serve their clientele much better. However, the extent of knowledge management practices in relation to information service provision in many academic libraries in Nigeria is difficult to determine.  This study assessed staff development program and service delivery in the library of the University of Lagos, Nigeria and its implication for knowledge management in the library of the University of Lagos, Nigeria.  The study employed the descriptive survey methodology. The population comprised the entire library workforce in the University of Lagos where a sample of 90 was drawn using simple random sampling technique. Data analysis was done using the descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentage distribution. This was achieved with the aid of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.Findings from the study indicated that top among staff development programs introduced in the selected academic library included in-house training (44.4%) and workshop (35.6%). More than two-thirds (72.2%) of the respondents indicated that these programmes were organized at least once in a year. With regard to the attitude of library staff towards in-service training, the study revealed that the highest percentage (44.4%) of the library workforce have attended trainings organized for library staff some of the times, closely followed by those who attended most of the time (33.3%) while those who attended trainings all the time accounted for (16.7%) and those who never attended any form of trainings organized for library staff accounted for (5.6%). The study concluded that the university authority and the university librarian in particular need to intensify efforts to sustain regular training and manpower development programmes for knowledge enhancement among library personnel thereby contributing to sustainable educational programme development and implementation in the university community. The study recommended that the library authority should embrace knowledge management practices among the librarians so that this can foster collaboration and knowledge transfer for the benefits of the library users and the university community at large.