LIBRARIANS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES FOR IMPROVED SERVICE DELIVERY IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine librarian’s professional development programmes for improved service delivery in Anambra State, Nigeria. Descriptive research design was used for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 27 librarians in Prof. Festus Aghagbo Nwako Library of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The study revealed that the types of professional development programmes in Prof. Festus Aghagbo Nwako Library are workshop, job rotation, coaching, internship, instructional guidance, seminars, and apprentice. Strategies such as fostering a culture of lifelong learning, leveraging technology, promoting mentorship and peer learning, strengthening collaboration and partnerships, aligning with staff development needs, focusing on service improvement, targeting specific needs, providing incentives for participation, and implementing comprehensive evaluationwith mean scores of 3.84 and 3.00 with meanscores respectively were used for improving professional development programmes. The study also identified some challenges such as funding, technological limitations, policy barriers, staffing issues delivery, access to resources, lack of institutional support, resistance to change, lack of awareness, geographical constraints and inadequate evaluation mechanisms affecting the professional development programmes. The study recommended increased funding, investment in infrastructure, policy reforms, recruitment and retention strategies, enhanced access to resources, training and awareness programmes, cultural change initiatives, geographical outreach efforts, collaborative initiatives, evaluation and feedback mechanisms as solutions to the identified challenges for improving professional development programmes.