CHAPTER SIX – RESEARCH FINDINGS
6.2 Membership of research libraries
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Fig 6.4 - Education levels of research librarians Source: Researcher
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users of the library drastically. Of the users interviewed, 129 (80%) were members. Fig 6.5 represents this distribution.
Fig 6.5 - Distribution of respondents by membership Source: Researcher
Thirty eight (30%) of them had been members for less than three years. Most of these were graduate students and visiting scientists. Thirty five (27%) had also been members for between three and six years. Thus seventy three (57%) of the users interviewed had been members of the research libraries for six years or less. Significantly, twenty nine (22%) had been members of the libraries for more than ten years. Most of these are permanent employees of the research institutions. Fig 6.6 summarizes the membership period distribution.
6.2.2 Likelihood to stop membership
Sixty six (51%) of the users interviewed said that they will stop their membership in the next three or so years. Most of these are students or visiting scientists who will return to their parent institutions or countries of origin after their programmes. Notably, none of these members said they would stop their membership because the libraries do not meet their research needs. Three (2%) of the members are not sure whether they will continue their membership or not. One was on transfer to another station (Kakamega) which is far from the library while two were about to retire. Fig 6.7 represents this distribution.
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Fig 6.6 – Distribution of members by membership period Source: Researcher
Fig 6.7 – Likelihood of stopping membership Source: Reseacher
6.2.3 Non-members would like to join
Nineteen (58%) of the non-members would like to be members of the libraries so as to get unlimited services from the libraries. Some of these non-members also said that they are about to undertake various study programmes and so will need the library more. Ten (30%) would not like to obtain membership. This category of users said that they are not using the library for research or live far from the library and only use it occasionally. There are others also who said that they are already getting the services they need even without being members. Four (12%) of the non-members are not sure whether they would join or not. Fig 6.8 represents this distribution.
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Fig 6.8 – Willingness of current non-members to become members Source: Researcher
6.2.4 Membership increased or reduced?
Nearly all the librarians interviewed said that there has been a change in the library membership in the past three or so years. Only one respondent was of the view that the research libraries have not changed in the period. While eight (53%) of the librarians who said the libraries have changed viewed the change as negative, seven (47%) said the change was positive. Those who perceived the change as negative explained that membership had decreased because their parent institutions had experienced high staff turnover over the period. Critically, some also pointed out that some potential users are now relying on independent online sources – some even using individual mobile phone Internet modems – and are not keen on maintaining library membership. One research library had been supporting small research centres conducting related research. However, during this period, two of these centres established their own libraries and thus reduced its membership.
Those who viewed the change as positive pointed out that the number of the members had increased over this period. They attributed this increase to the introduction of new projects hence more staff and an increased need for new information; expansion of training programmes; and the convenience of using the library through the use of ICT tools enabling users to access services and products from their offices or homes. Some librarians also averred that the number of members had increased due to the introduction of cybercafé facilities in the libraries. There was consensus,
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however, that the number of users coming into the physical library had reduced but the number of users accessing services online had increased.
6.2.5 Libraries have improved
Apart from changes in membership, findings from interviews and focus group discussions with both librarians and users also revealed that most of the case libraries have improved in the past three or so years. They explained that most of these improvements had been necessitated by the need to meet the emerging interests of the users and thus retain them. They explained that most improvement has been done through digitization of services and collections as well as improvement of the physical spaces of the libraries. Both librarians and users also agreed that there are still many areas of the libraries that require more improvement. They expressed hope that the current momentum of change will increase so that the libraries may play their roles effectively. However, they warned that libraries are likely to face challenges relating to inadequate funding, general resistance to change, skill gaps, as well as steep learning curves (for instance, how to deploy and make the best use of new ICT systems) which may be difficult to surmount. They proposed that these challenges can be overcome through good planning, phased implementation of change, intensive involvement of the users, and aggressive resource mobilization.