A CRITICAL STUDY ON THE MARKETING OF LIBRARY SERVICES IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT: This study was carried out on the marketing of Academic libraries services using Imo state University, as case study. To achieve this, seven significant research objectives were formulated. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprises of library staff in Imo state University, Imo state. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 41 respondents while 38 were received and 35 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables and mean scores. The result of the findings reveals that marketing of academic library services is needed in Imo state University to increase awareness of the library's value , expand academic library user base, keep current users informed and educated about current/updated library services, and keep potential users informed about the resources and services that match their needs and interests. The findings also revealed that the extent to which library services is marketed in academic libraries in Imo state University is low. In regard to the findings, the study recommends that library management should expose librarians to marketing library services through training, conferences, seminars, workshop and symposiums.