Library Security Policy and Use of Electronic Security Systems in Academic Libraries in South-West Nigerian Public Universities

Abstract

The study examined library security policy and the use of electronic security systems in academic libraries in South-West Nigerian Universities using a descriptive survey design. The population comprised library staff of Nigerian public Universities in the South-West. The purposive sampling technique was used to sample firstgeneration public universities in South-West, Nigeria. The universities surveyed were the University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Simple random sampling was adopted to select 40 library staff (University Librarians, Librarians, Para-professional library staff, and ICT personnel) in each sampled University, totaling 120 respondents constituting the sample size. However, one hundred and nine (109) copies of the questionnaire were returned and found useful for answering research questions. Descriptive statistics was used to answer three research questions. The findings of the study are as follows: the extent to which electronic security systems are used in academic libraries in South-West Nigerian public universities was to a high extent; the major challenges faced by academic libraries are failure of universities’ management to pay attention to the security needs, poor funding, systems failure, low Internet connectivity, and inadequate technical skills; level of effectiveness of electronic security systems in academic libraries in South-West Nigerian universities was found to be high; and level of compliance with library security policies in South-West Nigerian public universities was on the high side.