AN ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE LIBRARY ASSISTANTS OF SRI LANKAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Abstract

To survive and be successful in the current rapidly changing library environment, staff learning must be an ongoing process. University Library staff can be divided as Professional, Para-Professionals and Non-Professionals. Library Assistants are the largest category of library staff. Not giving more attention on education and training for them creates various problems for the efficient functioning of the library. Therefore it is vital to conduct surveys to find out the existing situation of the library education and training opportunities for the Library Assistants. The main objective of this Study is set out to gain a clear understanding of educational and training opportunities available for the Library Assistants in Sri Lankan University Libraries. It further aims to investigate the educational and training opportunities currently available for University Library Assistants, actual training needs of the Library Assistants, to identify the critical issues, drawbacks, experienced by the Library Assistants and suggestions to overcome those issues and explore the Librarians' views of the training needs of the Library Assistants. In order to carry out these objectives of the Study an empirical survey was conducted on education and training within the University Libraries. Twelve University Libraries were selected for this survey. A questionnaire was administered on the Library Assistants who had completed 5 to 15 years service experience. A response rate of 79.50% was achieved. A separate questionnaire was distributed among 12 University Librarians and the response rate was 100%.