Public library services in countries of the East African community: A comparative analysis

This thesis is a comparative study of public library services in the countries of east Africa. The aim of this study was to examine public libraries that are found in the six countries that form the East African Community (EAC) and through a comparative analysis, identify the differences and similarities in the library services they provide because no study has compared EAC public libraries before. A sample of the two public libraries were randomly taken from each country and from each library, 3 library staff and 2 library users were randomly selected. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, and the questionnaire and interviews were major methods of data collection. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and presented as frequencies and percentages using SPSS V20 whereas qualitative data was transcribed, and transcripts were loaded into NVivo 12 for thematic analysis. The findings revealed that the main information needs of library users across all the surveyed libraries were reading, teaching and research with some few using the library for leisure and meeting purposes. The librarians and library staffs were committed to providing quality services to the library users in order to meet their information needs and the library users were generally contented with the services that they received from the libraries for instance most of the library users in all libraries always found the materials on the subjects they wanted, sought help from the library staff and most of them got the help they sought as well as providing clear guidelines about how to find materials and how their services work. The surveyed libraries were stocked with books, periodicals, and non-book materials. There was a variety collection of books in most of the libraries surveyed most of which were purchase from local book sellers and through donations and through agents. The strategies used to identify and locate relevant information in the library included perusal of books in the shelves and asking librarians for assistance while some of the respondents used information technology to find books in the library and the access systems included open access and closed access. The physical catalogue systems included card form and Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) systems. The other services provided by the libraries included reference service, translation service, photocopying, bibliographic service, current awareness service, selective dissemination of information service and inter-library lending service as well as exchanged information materials and manpower. It was noted that all the libraries faced constraints from the demand and supply of human resources as well as technology. Major challenges included inadequate and low-quality staff, lack of enough books for the users, increase in document prices, poorly stocked and outdated materials, shrinking library budgets for development and training, weak technology application in service, limited internet connections, inadequate computers and lack of computer skills. The libraries from Uganda and Rwanda had highly trained and educated library staff as compared to Kenya. Also, Uganda and Tanzania had the highest number of the library staff with high experience as compared to Rwanda and Burundi. Uganda and Kenya had many professional staff than other surveyed countries whereas S. Sudan and Rwanda had a high number of semi-professional staff. Libraries from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda had better services, better staff and better service delivery strategies as compared to other countries. It was recommended that the library management should improve staff capacity, skills, and competency, improve information technology capacity, allocate well-balanced library budgets for library activities, stocked with materials that meet user needs, practice Inter- library corporation, and conduct public awareness campaigns. Key words: Public Library, Library Services, East Africa, Information Needs, Information Materials, Public Library Services