Effect of Economic Recession on Public Library Services in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the impact of economic recession in library and information services amongst public libraries in Lagos State. Data were collected with a self-designed questionnaire administered to forty-one (41) employees in the public libraries within Lagos State. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were analysed with Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) tested at 5% level of significance. Findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between economic recession and library services. There is a positive significant at 0.582 at 5% (p=0.00<0.05 but negative relationship at 1.72-0.523, p<0.05 for economic recession and provision of library services; this implies that economic recession has a direct and an inverse influence on the provision of library and information services. The study recommends for adequate funding, library advocacy amongst the youth in the society, sustainability of public-private partnership embarked upon by the Lagos State Government.

Keywords: Economic Recession, Lagos State, Public Libraries, library Services