Prevalence of Library Anxiety among Undergraduate Students in Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Library anxiety is a significant phenomenon among research anxiety 
constructs that influence academic success. The phenomenon has 
received attention among scholars in the developed world. The study 
investigates the prevalence of library anxiety among undergraduate 
students of Lead City University, Nigeria. The study uses the descriptive 
survey research method for population of 3,285 undergraduate students 
of the university, and proportional sampling techniques of 10 
percentage are randomly selected from each faculty. The standardise 
measuring instrument: AQAK Library Anxiety is used. The study shows 
that (26.9%) of undergraduate students experience mild anxiety, while 
21.7% experiences severe library anxiety and 17.2% experience low anxiety. The study further reveals that 21.3% experienced moderate 
anxiety and only 12.9% of the undergraduate students experience no 
anxiety. The study also reveals the factors responsible for library anxiety 
among the undergraduate students include library environment settings 
(3.20), inadequate user education (3.03), attitude of library staff 
(3.00), arrangement and awareness of library resources (2.81) and 
inadequate user knowledge (2.82). The study recommends improved 
user education programmes, creating awareness about library services 
and resources and library staff should improve on their relationship with 
the library users.