INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION NEEDS ON LIBRARY PATRONAGE AMONG THE UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

This study examines the influence of information needs on library patronage among undergraduate students in private universities in Oyo State, Nigeria. The correlated type of descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. A structured questionnaire was adopted as the instrument for data collection. The study population comprised eight thousand, six hundred and fifty-nine (8,659) undergraduate students in private universities across Oyo State. A sample size of 368 was used for the study as obtained from Krejcie and Morgan sample size calculator. Data were analyzed using both descriptive, inferential statistics, Mean, ANOVA and Regression. Findings show a low level of library patronage among the respondents with a mean score of 2.34. The result indicated that the respondents mostly need information for personal development. In addition, it was found that the preferred sources of information are academic journals, internet sources and the library. The test of hypotheses revealed that information needs (R = 0.329, p<0.05) significantly influence library patronage. Findings also reveal that information needs have a significant but weak relationship with library patronage by undergraduates in private universities in Oyo State (Adj. R² = 0.092, F (2,334) = 17.989, p = 0.000). The study concludes that academic libraries must do their best to understand the information needs of their clientele. Therefore, students and other library patrons should be involved in the collection development process.