Library usage patterns and its level of satisfaction among undergraduate medical students at Northwest School of Medicine, Peshawar

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Reading books has a privileged status in today’s world, and libraries are places where anyone can read the books in a good environment and with concentration. Libraries help students to achieve their goals and help them a lot in achieving knowledge which can be very help to them in future.

Objectives: To determine the different patterns of library usage among undergraduate medical students. To determine the level of satisfaction of these students regarding the services provided by the library.

Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted at Northwest School of Medicine Peshawar for duration of 6 months. A pilot study was done followed by distribution of a structured questionnaire among the students of Year I to Year IV of MBBS and data was then analyzed using SPSS.

Results: The study consisted of 77 male students (40.7%) and 112 female students (59.3%). 90.5% of the students were going to the library. 50.1% students went to the library to study or make notes in the library, 49.7% to borrow books and 48.7% to read textbooks. 61.9% of the students used the IT facility provided in the library. Majority of the students (52.38%) were satisfied but the percentage of unsatisfied library users was also high (47.62%). There was no significant difference in the level of satisfaction of males and females (p=0.277), there was no significant difference in the level of satisfaction between hostelites and day scholars (p=0.317). there was significant difference in the level of satisfaction between students of year I to year IV (p<0.001)

Conclusion: The patterns for library usage were dependent on what time of year it was as they changed during exam and non-exam time. Majority of the students were satisfied with the condition of the library and services provided but the major problems faced by these students were unavailability of a discussion room, problems with the air conditioning of the library and the duration of time to keep an issued book.

Keywords: Library usage patterns, level of satisfaction, undergraduate students.