Personal and library-related causes of library anxiety among Kenyan undergraduate students

Library anxiety is the uncomfortable emotional feeling experienced by library users when they anticipate, imagine or attempt to use a library or library resources. Many library users worldwide experience library anxiety at one time or another. This paper explores the personal and library-related causes of anxiety among undergraduate university students in Kenya. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was used to conduct the study. The study population was 200 undergraduate students from two private and two public universities in Kenya. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data, which were analysed descriptively using SPSS. The findings established that personal factors such as technical skills and library-related ones such as librarians’ friendliness and approachability, the library outlook, and the resources within it, among others, cause library anxiety among undergraduate students in Kenya. Librarians can assist users in overcoming library anxiety to feel more comfortable and confident in using the library's resources and services by creating a welcoming environment in the library, offering library tours and orientations to help users become acquainted with the library and being approachable, friendly and helpful to users.