Improving the Performance of Librarians Through Mentoring: The Case of Academic Libraries in South-East and South-South Zones of Nigeria

The objective of this study is to determine the extent to which mentoring programmes can encourage job task output of librarians which improves productivity. The study provides a conceptual and theoretical framework based on previous researches. The study adopted the survey method of research to sample opinion of respondents for the study. The population of the study is made up of 661 from 53 academic libraries consisting of federal and state owned universities, polytechnics and colleges of education libraries in South-East and South-South zones of Nigeria. Since the population of the study is small, census method was adopted. Data collection was done with the use of a questionnaire. The size of the population is 661. The questionnaires were distributed to all the librarians and only 501 librarians responded. The response rate is 75.7%. The Z-test and regression analysis were used to answer the research question and test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The finding shows that there is a significant influence of mentoring on performance improvement of librarians in South-East and South-South zones of Nigeria (F-cal = 58. 62; P\u3c0.05). The research concludes that mentoring programme has become a roadmap to fostering positive work change that enhances job performance. The study recommends that academic libraries should be encouraged to design and adapt to mentoring programme strategy and guidelines that will not discriminate among staff but offer the right approach and method for acquisition of skills and competencies necessary for job productivity