An investigation on the utilization of the public library by the community: a case study of a public library in Mombasa County, Kenya

Date of Award

12-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

First Supervisor/Advisor

Dr. Joyce Ndalichako

Department

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Abstract

Public libraries are known to play a major role in fostering knowledge and information to the community. They have continued to exist in the society for many generations meeting the various needs of the people by availing print and non-print materials. For many generations people have used libraries to gather information and generate new knowledge though in the recent times there has been a paradigm shift due to technological advancements. Public libraries are government run institutions and they purpose to serve the communities in the regions where they are established. The study was conducted a public library in Mombasa county, with the aim of investigating the utilization of the public library, in relation to the available opportunities to the library users and the challenges encountered in the process of accessing and provision these services. A qualitative case study design was used to establish the findings. Participants were selected purposively to ensure rich and adequate data is obtained to support the study. Methods of data collection used included interviews, focus group discussions and observations. A daily reflection of the data was made to suggest further findings. The data was later analysed to form the findings of the study. The study reveals that the public library is vibrant with user’s showing great interest in accessing resources from the library. A part from that the library presents a variety of resources that attract users to the library although some adjustments would uplift the status to cope with technological changes. The study recommends that with proper management the public library can be a great avenue for the community at large to be educated and informed. The information can be transformed through the print and non-print media with the inclusion of internet sources.

This document is available in the relevant AKU library

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