Enhancing Library Service Delivery through Mobile Technologies: A Systematic Review of Evidence from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya

The rapid proliferation of mobile technologies across Sub-Saharan Africa has fundamentally altered the landscape of information access and dissemination. In developing countries like Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, academic and public libraries face unique structural challenges, including erratic power supply, underfunding and limited physical infrastructure. However, high mobile phone penetration rates have offered a viable alternative for service delivery. The purpose of this study was to determine, through a systematic review of empirical evidence, the extent to which mobile technologies have been deployed to enhance library service delivery in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, and the factors that constrain that deployment. Four objectives guided the study: to identify the categories of mobile technology-based library services (MTLS) implemented in the three countries; to establish the reported benefits of these services to library users; to determine the challenges militating against their implementation; and to explain the observed adoption patterns using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A systematic review design guided by the PRISMA 2020 protocol was adopted. The population of the study comprised all English-language scholarly and authoritative documents on mobile library services in the three countries published between 2015 and 2025. Purposive sampling, applied through predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, yielded a final sample of eighteen (18) documents, twelve peer-reviewed empirical studies (at least three per country) and six authoritative statistical and programme reports. Data were extracted into a structured matrix and analysed using thematic content analysis organised around the four research questions. Findings indicate that libraries in the three countries have adopted mobile-responsive websites, mobile online public access catalogues (m-OPACs), SMS services, social media and instant-messaging platforms, digital repositories, and remote access systems to support users. Usage is measurably high where services exist: 84–100 per cent of sampled users at Mount Kenya University retrieved library services on mobile devices, and a statistically positive relationship (r = 0.53) was recorded between MTLS use and information-needs satisfaction among 1,045 undergraduates in South-West Nigeria. Mobile technologies have enhanced access to information resources, strengthened user engagement, and facilitated distance learning. Nevertheless, challenges such as inadequate funding, poor ICT infrastructure, digital literacy gaps, and limited technical expertise continue to constrain implementation. Interpreted through TAM, the evidence shows that high perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are consistently reported across all three countries, but that behavioural intention is repeatedly overridden by weak facilitating conditions and poor perceived affordability, confirming that in this context the external variables, not the core TAM constructs, are the binding constraint. The study recommends zero-rating of library domains, formal institutional mobile technology policies, and structured continuing professional development for library personnel.