This article looks into the role of Abadina Media Resource Centre in expanding school library services in Nigeria. The article revealed the novelty seen in the functions of the Centre especially in the training of qualified personnel for the positions of teacher-librarians, media specialists, reading teachers and other school media personnel in pre-primary, primary and post-primary institutions in Nigeria and organizing of programmes relevant to reading and library use for Nigerian Children. In addition, core activities of the Centre were highlighted and challenges facing the school library media centre were also discussed. Abadina Media ResourceCentre has developed training programmes to produce qualified personnel that will run virile school media programmes in Nigerian schools, teach school media and conduct scientific and reliable researches to extend the frontiers of knowledge in the field.
Several studies have decried the non-existence of functional school libraries in many primary and secondary schools in Nigeria. This inadequacy in school libraries made it extremely difficult for school librarians to foster the culture of reading in students through school library use and reading promotional activities. Moreover, library hours are not included in the school time table in many of the secondary schools in Nigeria. Thus, reading engagement has been on the decline among secondary school students in the country. Despite these challenges, some studies suggested that students will spend more time reading if they have more spare time. Therefore, this study investigated selected secondary school students’ reading engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic school lockdown. It was assumed that the availability of time during the period would motivate students to read since schools were closed and movement was restricted. The study adopted an online survey instrument (Questionnaire) administered to the students over 3-month period (April - June 2020). This instrument was adopted because there was total closure of schools throughout the country, thus the only means students could be reached at the time was through online. The questionnaire was sent to individual students and school online groups. Thus, the study was limited to students with information technology gadgets and online presence. The result revealed that there was no significant difference in the duration of time students spent reading during the lockdown and when school was in session. It also revealed that students read textbooks to prepare for examinations and to keep sound academically.
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to analyse the content of the Nigerian School Library Journal (NSLJ) from 1979‐2010.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a descriptive research approach by means of bibliometric analysis. The NSLJ was examined for subject coverage, geographic distribution of authors, country of origin of authors, publication output, collaboration among authors, international visibility, gender of authors, research type, and language of articles. The international visibility of the journal was investigated through the web‐based version of Ulrich's Periodicals Directory, Africa Journals OnLine (AJOL) and literature search.FindingsThere have been nine issues since the first publication in 1979. The study discovered that NSLJ was not listed among the known LIS journals from Nigeria. The geographical distributions and nationality of the authors in NSLJ indicated that all the authors were Nigerians, and the level of collaboration among the authors was low (16.7 per cent) while single authors were many (83.3 per cent). The study revealed that most articles used the survey research design followed by historical strategies, literature review and case studies.Practical implicationsThe NSLJ does not have the visibility it needs internationally; therefore the editors could aim to index the journal in renowned abstracting services. NSLJ editions should aim to get published on time using a quality peer review process and the journal should be listed with AJOL because increasing the visibility of the journal would assist in increasing the journal's quality.Originality/valueThe study has identified gaps in promoting school library research from Nigeria internationally, and in the quality of Nigerian research that could be addressed by future studies.
The study reported survey results that revealed that reading for fun; reading in the library; and reading books with color and illustrations were among factors that affect ed reading habit among students. The survey also showed that students were not favorably disposed to reading at home and that some of them were forced to read by their parents. The study further revealed that almost all the respondents owned a mobile phone. The researchers recommend that software applications and teaching materials be harnessed for use on mobile phones such that Nigerian students would be able to read and learn using this equipment.
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