Library Services, Information Resources Availability and Perceived Academic Achievement of Physically Challenged Students in Ibadan Oyo State.

Physically challenged students are entitled to all the support necessary to succeed in their academic pursuits. However, the reality in developing countries, particularly Nigeria, is that little attention is often paid to physically challenged students. This study examined the influence of information resources and library services provision on the perceived academic achievement of physically challenged students in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted a quantitative survey research method. A structured questionnaire was adopted as the instrument for data collection. The study population comprises of 348 physically challenged students from Cheshire Special School Ijokodo, Ibadan, Oyo State. Total enumeration was used due to the manageable size of the population. The findings show that the level of availability of information resources in the library is above average (mean = 2.76) It was also found that library services available to the student is above average (mean = 3.07). Furthermore, hypotheses testing revealed that availability of information resources (β=0.420, t=3.690, p<0.05) and school library services (β=1.008, t=6.297, p<0.05) have a significant have positive influence on the perceived academic achievement by the students. The study, therefore, concluded that the library can serve as a veritable evidence of the importance of school libraries in special education and recommends that other schools also embrace the establishment school libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]