Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
This study investigated manpower planning, total quality management (TQM) and service delivery in academic libraries. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 83 staff comprising 45 librarians and 38 library officers in the university libraries of the seven universities in Ondo State, Nigeria. Data were collected using questionnaire. Out of eighty three (83) questionnaires distributed, sixty two (62) copies were returned. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the study revealed that: the needs for manpower planning in academic libraries are: selection and recruitment of qualified personnel, assessment of training and staff development needs, and assessment of future skills requirement; manpower planning techniques employed in academic libraries are: forecasting manpower needs, forecasting manpower supply, balancing manpower supply and demand, short-term forecasting and long-term forecasting; the rationales for TQM practices in academic libraries include encouragement of staff towards top quality performance, commitment to continuous improvement of quality, improved quality service delivery and effective team work; TQM techniques employed in academic libraries include customer-based, employee-based, process-based, management-based, product-based, and supplier-based; the focus of service delivery systems in academic libraries are: promotion of learning, supporting and managing the institution’s intellectual capital, and promotion of research; the major challenges militating against effective service delivery in academic libraries are: ineffective manpower planning, insufficient information resources, lack of adherence to TQM practice, technology adaptation, inadequate basic library infrastructure, cost of acquiring library resources, insufficient administrative commitment, inordinate library policies, and lack of information skills by librarians.