Organization of resources and services in school libraries: A survey of district Multan, Punjab

Abstract

This study examines how resources and services are organized in school libraries. It looks at library staffing, collection development, classification and cataloguing, automation, services, inter-library cooperation and practitioners’ suggestions for improvement. A quantitative survey design was used. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from the persons in charge of 61 school libraries. Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations) were used to analyse the data, and five-point Likert scales measured acquisition practices, purchasing authority and service provision. School libraries were managed almost entirely by teachers (85.2%); only one library was run by a librarian, and 82% had no support staff. Only 13% had a collection development policy, and decisions on purchasing rested mainly with heads of institutions. Fewer than one-third of libraries (29.5%) had classified their collections, mostly with the Dewey Decimal Classification, and 82% had no catalogue of any kind. Computers were available in only three libraries (4.9%), and the same number used automation software. Service provision was weak: even book lending, the most common service, had a mean below “sometimes” (M = 2.75). About one-fifth of libraries (21.3%) cooperated with other libraries. Respondents most often called for adequate budgets, proper library space and dedicated staff. The results point to the need for professional school librarians, minimum standards and dedicated budgets, collection development policies, basic organization of collections and low-cost automation of school libraries. The study offers empirical evidence on how school library resources and services are organized at the operational level. This aspect has received less attention than buildings and collection size in the literature on school libraries in developing countries.