An assessment of the role of Libraries in poverty alleviation among the youth in Lagos State, Nigeria
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Date
2020
Authors
Zaid, Y.A
Egberongbe, H.S
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Middlebelt Journal of Library and Information Science
Abstract
A survey of the historical and contemporary facts and figures presents Nigeria as a nation
battling with poverty eradication. The situation is further compounded by the level of poverty and the attendant socio-economic milieu among economically active youth. The
study was based on a review of relevant literature on the use of public libraries and their
roles in government’s commitment towards poverty alleviation among the youths in Lagos
State, Nigeria. Employing a mixed methods approach, both qualitative and quantitative
data were obtained. Using a purposive sampling technique, quantitative data were
obtained with the use of a questionnaire administered to 378 youths selected from a total
population of 475 persons who attended the readership and entrepreneurship community
engagement programmes held at the three remodeled public libraries in Lagos State.
Qualitative data were gathered from library users and administrators using interviews,
observation and document analysis. While quantitative data were analyzed using
frequency counts and simple percentage, qualitative data were analyzed using thematic
analysis. Findings revealed that 58.5 percent of youths living in Lagos State, have low
standard of living, and 80.7 percent are in need of information on survival and income
generation to tackle poverty. Findings further revealed that three out of the eleven public
libraries remodeled are providing free access to information resources, access to
information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and community space for various
programmes to help alleviate poverty among youths. The study concludes that public
libraries play critical roles in poverty alleviation among youths, and recommends that
management of public libraries should develop strategies for advocacy and sustainable
information dissemination mechanism in line with the government’s vision on poverty
alleviation programmes in Lagos State
Description
Scholarly articles
Keywords
Poverty alleviation , Youths , Empowerment , Public libraries , Lagos state , Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Other social sciences::Library and information science
Citation
Zaid, Y.A & Egberongbe, H.S. (2020). An assessment of the role of Libraries in poverty alleviation among the youth in Lagos State, Nigeria. Middlebelt Journal of Library and Information Science, 18, 20-39.