Continuing Education of Academic Librarians in Nigeria: Accessibility Probe

Abstract

In the fast-changing Library and Information Science (LIS) landscape, continuing education is the only strategy for the continued relevance of the library and information professionals in professional practice. The paper reports the research study, which examined the accessibility of continuing education events by academic librarians in Nigeria. The study adopted the case study method using academic librarians in Imo State, South–East, Nigeria. Data were analysed using percentages and frequency counts. The results show that academic librarians in Nigeria appreciate the value of continuing education, but their access to such events is limited by inadequate institutional sponsorship and insufficiency of personal finances among other factors. To improve access to continuing education events, the study recommends better funding of the institutions by their sponsoring bodies, higher personal sacrifices on the part of the academic librarians, joint organisation of continuing education programmes by cooperating academic libraries and amendment of the restrictive policy guiding access to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) intervention fund for staff development.