Role of Libraries as Sources for Information by Farmers in Ogbomoso Oyo State Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated the role of libraries as sources of information for farmers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 respondents, of whom 142 (95%) responded and were valid for the analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data using a percentage table. Findings showed that 54.3% of the respondents use library resources as their information sources, while 45.7% do not use library resources. This implied that there was little disparity between those farmers who use libraries and those who do not use libraries as their information sources. Further, negative attitudes by farmers toward the use of libraries, inadequate agricultural information resources in the libraries to meet farmer needs, a low level of ICT skill by farmers to access agricultural information resources in their comfort zones, inadequate time to visit libraries and the long distance of library locations were major problems militating against the farmers use of library resources. While proper information repackaging, adequate education on the use of ICT tools should be given to farmers toward the use of library as their information sources, every library should equip their library with resources on agricultural information, a specialist agricultural librarian should be encouraged by the libraries to meet the needs of farmers; libraries should also encourage mobile services in order to bring library services closer to farmers; and farmers should also be encouraged to find time to visit the library so as to get the latest information on new agricultural innovation documents.