An Assessment of Selection and Acquisition of Information Materials in Zanzibar University Libraries.

An assessment of selection and acquisition of library materials in academic libraries is one of the most important activities in any library collection development and usage. The main objective of this study was to assess the selection and acquisition of information materials in academic libraries in Zanzibar. The study adopted the descriptive survey design with a sample of sixty respondents including deans of faculties, staff and directors of libraries, head of departments. The study has shown that the mode of selection and acquisition of library materials used by universities libraries of Zanzibar is based on two ways namely; use of the selection and acquisition policy, for those universities libraries which had the policy, and by taking the opinions from the library users who provides reference list which assist in purchasing library materials. The key issues surrounding selection and acquisition of information materials are lack of enough budget to facilitate the purchasing of library materials, lack of selection and acquisition policy and finally the absence of awareness among the university stakeholders. The study concluded that the universities have little capacity in the areas ofselection and acquisition of library materials. Therefore, the study recommends number of measures to enhance the effectiveness in the provision of quality services by academic libraries. They include;increasing budget for libraries, recruitment of more qualified professional librarians and the library directors and all management as a whole should prepare seminars,workshops, colloquiums and other activities periodically to help increase awareness to all stakeholders of the library. Keywords: Library materials, academic libraries, library collection, libraries in Zanzibar