Utilization of Library Resources and Teachers' Effectiveness in Primary Schools in Rivers State

Abstract

This paper examined the utilization of library resources and teachers' effectiveness in the primary school  in Rivers State. The objectives of the paper were to: identify the features of an effective teacher in primary schools, identify library resources  available for teachers  and examine areas where teachers utilize library resources for teaching in Rivers State Primary schools. Ninety (90) primary school teachers were  randomly selected from the three senatorial districts of Rivers State and were used as the sample size of the study.  A structured questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection. The collected data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation while Pearson product-moment coefficient (PPMC) was used to test the hypothesis. The findings of the study revealed that effectiveness in explaining concepts, ability to stimulate students’ interest in the topic, fairness in grading, utilization of emerging teaching technologies,  among others were features of an effective teacher. Also response from the teachers shows that Charts, Graph, Maps, Encyclopedia and various subject dictionaries, current textbooks among others were the library resources available for teachers effectiveness in primary schools in Rivers  State. The study revealed that areas teachers utilize library resources for teaching  include formulation of lesson notes, curriculum review and interpretation, knowledge enhancement among others. The study recommended that Government should equip primary school library so as to enhance teachers' effectiveness.

Keywords: Utilization, Library, Resources, Teachers, primary schools, effectiveness.