AWARENESS, AVAILABILITY AND ADOPTION OF MAKERSPACE AS A TOOL FOR STAFF DEVELOPMENT IN FEDERAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated awareness, availability and adoption of makerspace as a tool for staff development in Federal University Libraries in Northern Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised of seven hundred and ten (710) librarians. The entire population was adopted for the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled “Librarians Awareness of Makerspace Questionnaire” (LAMQ). The instrument was trial tested by administering it to 40 librarians in four (4) State universities that are not part of the main study. The result of the reliability coefficient was found to be 0.82, this was good enough for the instrument to be considered reliable. Seven hundred and ten (710) copies of questionnaire were administered to librarians via e-mail and WhatsApp platforms, out of which seven hundred (700) copies of questionnaire were retrieved and returned for use which represent 98.6% response rate. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. The findings revealed that majority of the respondents were aware of the makerspace, none of the university libraries under study have a makerspace and majority of the respondents had positive opinion on the adoption of makerspace for staff development in university libraries. The study recommended among others that Management of university libraries should strategies ways of using available spaces or create space by decongesting already existed spaces in the libraries to give way for creation of makerspaces to collaborate with other existing learning centres such as workstations and workrooms for effective and productive learning.