Funding as Correlates of Library Service Delivery for Students with Special Needs in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

This paper assessed funding as correlates of library service delivery in schools which have students with special needs in North central, Nigeria. The study was guided by three objectives and three corresponding research questions. Survey research design method was adopted for the study. The total population for the study was three hundred and nine (309) secondary school students in the three schools which have students with special needs. A total of two hundred and forty six (246) copies of questionnaire were filled, returned and found usable for the analysis representing 80% response rate. Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Descriptive statistical such as frequency counts and percentages, mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data. The results from the findings showed that the major sources of funding for special needs schools under study are: Subvention from State Government, NonGovernmental Organisation (NGOs) and Religious Group. In addition, the major services offered by these libraries are circulation services, document delivery services and reference services. The analysis of the findings further revealed that lack of fund to procure library resources is one of the major problems affecting effective service delivery among the libraries under study. Hence, the study recommended among others that the management of special needs schools should look of alternative means of funding for the acquisition of information resources in their libraries to enable them meet the information needs of the users with special needs.