Assessing the Impact of Capacity Building Initiatives on the Service Quality of Library Professionals in Selected Private Universities in Ghana

Abstract

The need for capacity building is imperative if academic libraries are to provide the information resources needed to support the teaching, learning and research purposes of the institution. The purpose of the study was to test the relationship between capacity building and service quality among library professionals. The study also sought to test the moderating effect of effective planning and decision making between capacity building and service quality. The cross-sectional survey approach was employed in this study. The sample for the study constituted 118 library professionals from four selected private Universities in Ghana namely Methodist University College, Pentecost University College, Central University College and Valley View University. The Convenience sampling technique was employed in the actual selection of respondents for the completion of questionnaires. Data collected through the use of the questionnaires was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 from which descriptive, reliabilities and inferential statistics such as correlation and moderated hierarchical regression analyses were computed. The study revealed a significant positive relationship between capacity building initiatives and service quality. Also, the study revealed that effective planning and decision making significantly moderates the relationship between capacity building and service quality. In view of these findings, it was recommended that academic libraries focus more on capacity building programmes that seek to train and provide leadership and team work in order to enhance the quality of services provided by academic libraries.

Keywords: Capacity Building, Training, Leadership, Teamwork, Support, Planning, Decision Making and Service Quality