Changing role of librarians in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: A Nigerian perspective

Abstract

Librarians' role goes beyond the delivery of services such as providing current awareness, selective dissemination of information, and referral services among others. It involves helping people to comprehend vital information through the provision of media and information literacy support. One of the recent issues is curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main objective of the study was to determine the changing roles of librarians in preventing the pandemic, and the challenges in sharing information on the COVID-19 pandemic. A descriptive survey design using Google Forms was used. Google form links were sent to the online forum of librarians in Nigeria. A population of 759 was derived from various online platforms. The Krejcie and Morgan sampling method was used to pick the sample size of 250 respondents, to achieve the sampling size, the research was observant to make sure the number of respondents did not exceed the sample size by constantly checking the response report. The return rate was 127 librarians. The study's findings revealed that librarians used formal and informal channels to disseminate information to society in the wake of the pandemic. It further revealed that WhatsApp groups, Facebook, and flyers, among others were the most used channels. The findings also revealed that librarians play a critical role in preventing the pandemic spread by posting cleaning, safety measure and social distancing information on various WhatsApp groups they belong to. The study recommends that libraries should also consider other means of communication such as visiting market places, visiting local communities, peer group discussions, and use of telegram, among others to advocate for the prevention of COVID-19 pandemic. Communication channels, Social Media, Pandemic