Measuring disaster preparedness and response practices in university libraries in Nigeria: The role of disaster equipment

The study measured the extent of availability of disaster equipment with a view to ascertaining disaster preparedness and response practices in university libraries in Southwest Nigeria. The descriptive research was adopted to situate the study. Questionnaire and observation checklist were the instruments for data collection. While the research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean(x), standard deviation (SD) and ranking (R), responses obtained from the observation checklist were analyzed using simple percentages. Inferential statistics (t-test) was employed to test the hypothesis. The research discovered an adequate availability rate of fire extinguishers, sand buckets, emergency exit doors, anti-virus software and thunder arrestors. Other core disaster equipment like dehumidifiers, dryers, dust extractors, plastic sheet covers, warning alarms etc. are lacking in the libraries. The study equally found that the disaster preparedness and response practices primarily carried out in the studied libraries include: regular inspection and maintenance of electrical equipment, ensuring disaster equipment are in their rightful positions and timely replacement of fire extinguishers on expiration. The result of the hypothesis tested revealed a t-value of 3.094 at p<0.05 level, indicating that there is a significant relationship between availability of disaster equipment and disaster preparedness and response practices in university libraries in Southwest Nigerian. Consequently, the study recommended the procurement of core disaster equipment, deployment of technology for the deterrence of library misconduct as well as benchmarking existing equipment and activities with world class counterparts.