Awareness and implementation of COA Circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library materials

The study examined the awareness and implementation of COA circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library materials in academic libraries of state universities and colleges in Cordillera Administrative Region. The study used a descriptive-correlational research design and employed a simple random sampling technique in gathering data using a self-made online questionnaire from the region. The findings of the study showed that most of the respondents were female and a bachelor’s degree holder, under the age bracket of thirty years old and below, and half of them have seven years and above expertise in their field. Librarians and support staff were aware on the COA circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library materials with the overall weighted mean of 3.17. In addition, findings showed that the librarians and support staff had implemented the COA circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library materials as evidenced by the weighted mean of 3.20. There was no significant difference in the respondents’ level of awareness on COA circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library books and materials when grouped according to their age, gender, educational qualification, and years of service. All the probability values were higher than the test of significance at .05. There is a significant difference in the respondents’ extent of implementation of COA circulars on the policy on replacement of lost or damaged library materials when grouped according to their years of service with the obtained p-value of .001 which is lower than the test of significance at .05, showing that there was enough statistical evidence to reject the null hypothesis. However, no significant differences were found in the respondents’ extent of implementation of COA circulars on the policy of replacement of lost or damaged library materials when grouped according to age, gender, and educational qualifications. The values obtained were higher than the test of significance at .05. There is a significant relationship between the respondents’ level of awareness and the extent of implementation of COA circulars on the replacement of lost or damaged library materials, a Pearson’s r value of .583 was obtained, indicating a moderate correlation. Meanwhile, a p-value of .000 which was lower than the test of significance at .01 implied that there is enough statistical evidence to reject the null hypothesis, showing a significant relationship between the variables. There is a need to propose an action plan to further improve the crafting of policies in replacement of lost or damaged library materials aligned with the COA circulars.