Exploring the status of school library development in South-East, Nigeria: Implications for teaching and learning

The school library is the hub around which teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools revolve. The school library provides the academic environment and information resources needed for effective and efficient teaching and learning. The status of school development in South-East, Nigeria is of pressing issue with farreaching implication for teaching and learning. Despite the National Policy on Education’s emphasis on functional school libraries, many primary and secondary schools lack libraries or have poorly resourced ones. The study covered the role of school library in the development of a child’s education, the state of school library infrastructure in the schools in the zone, the services and resources of the school libraries, their funding patterns and the challenges that inhibit the school library development in the zone. It revealed that the development of school libraries in South-East, Nigeria is slow, with its attendant poor infrastructure, inadequate findings, lack of trained personnel, non-compliance with national educational policies, limited access to resources, management by non-professional librarians, and absence of dedicated library time, and render usage. The implications for teaching and learning were significant with potential consequences on students’ academic performance, reading habit and poor teaching effectiveness.