A comparative study of library services and job performance of librarians and paraprofessional librarians in public libraries in South-South Nigeria

Purpose: This study is aimed at comparing library services and job performances of personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a descriptive survey design using 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria. The total enumeration sampling technique was used for this study. All 107 personnel in public libraries in South-South Nigeria were considered appropriate for this study. The instrument used to elicit data from the respondents was a self-designed questionnaire and oral interview, 103 respondents answered to the questionnaire. Findings: Library services such as recreational services, community information services, career information services, information alert services, services to prisoners, mobile library services and adult literacy education programs are not carried out. The result also revealed that factors such as poor funding by government, insufficient staff strength, lack of interpersonal skills and untrained staff hinder adequate job performance of personnel. In the final analysis, the result from the study amongst others shows that there is no significant difference between the six states on the types of job performed in the different state public libraries in South-South Nigeria. Meanwhile, there is a significant difference between the extent of job performance of librarians and paraprofessional librarians in public libraries in South-South Nigeria. Originality/value: To the best of the researchers' knowledge, this research is the first to ascertain library services and job performance of personnel in all public libraries in South-South Nigeria. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.