Human Capital Development and Performance of Academic Librarians: Sam Jonah Library in Focus

Abstract

The contribution of human capital to the survival of libraries cannot be underestimated, this necessitates their regular training and development for increased performance. The aim of the study was to assess the extent to which human capital development in the Sam Jonah L ibrary improves performance of staf f . The qualitative method was used, where interview was used to solicit information from senior management. Six out of the eight senior management members were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to an alyze data from the interviews conducted. The findings of the study showed that though there were training programmes organized in the library and outside the library, they were not adequate for the number of staff who required training . It was also found out that some staff had training in other fields other than library related programmes. Further, there was no improvement in the performance of staff who received training especially those who undertook professional library studies. Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, it is recommended among other s that the library should regularly measure the performance of trained staff in order to identify gaps in their skills which will enable the library to design relevant training programmes to boost staff performance. The Library should also develop and document a training policy to be used as a guide to training so as to select programmes that will be constructive to all staff from all sections of the library.