Abstract

The study examined the use of social networking sites for providing library and information services by librarians in Public university libraries in Abia State. The study was guided by five research questions. The design of the study was descriptive survey and the population of the study comprised of 14131 library users with a sample size of 350 registered library users. The instruments for data for the study were questionnaire and observation checklist. The data generated were analysed using percentages and mean. The findings revealed that ABSU and MOUAU libraries have no official facebook, twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, Nairaland, skype, Googletalk, Academia.edu, researchgate, Mendeley, Ning, Library thing, Flick among other social networking sites. Social networking sites are not used by librarians for providing library and information services in ABSU and MOUAU libraries. The benefits of social networking includes that it could be used for marketing library services, helps to feed users with information and allows users to create , connect, converse, contribute and share information among others.The study revealed that lack of training of staff in the use of computer, inadequate computerization, lack of awareness of social sites, insufficient bandwidth, lack of qualified ICT librarians, erratic power supply, and poor funding are the challenges inhibiting the use of social networking sites by librarians for providing library and information services in university libraries in Abia State. The study recommended that the university library management should mandate the ICT librarians and reference librarians to create social media pages for the library and a staff with ICT skills should be assigned to manage the outline platform, social networking sites use policy should be formulated in the library, and adequate telecommunic infrastructure such as internet connectivity, library web page or portals should be acquired by the university authority.