Impact of Library Service Quality on Students’ Satisfaction in Higher Educational Environments: The Case of Wollo University

Aims: The main aim of the study is to analyze the impact of library service quality dimensions on students’ satisfaction in higher education.

Study Design: Cross-sectional research design was applied. The explanatory research design was used to identify cause and effect relationships between library service quality dimensions and students’ satisfaction.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in wollo university, North East Ethiopia between January 2016 and September 2017.

Methodology: 366 students were selected proportionally by using simple random sampling technique after students stratified into colleges to identify their perceptions of library service quality. Close-ended structured self-completion questionnaires, adapted from the SERVQUAL instrument were used to collect data. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to describe respondents’ demographic characteristics. Correlation and multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the impact of each of the five dimensions of SERVQUAL on the overall satisfaction of students’ about library service with the aid of statistical package for social science ( SPSS) version 20.0.

Results: Correlation of library service quality and students’ satisfaction was 0.569, p<0.01. It was significant enough to show the correlation between the two variables. Since the correlation was positive, library service quality and student satisfaction are positively related, which means better library service quality brings higher students’ satisfaction. The coefficient of determination i.e adjusted R-square (R2) value was 0.843 representing that 84.3% of students satisfaction can be explained by the five dimensions of library service quality.

Conclusion: Correlational results indicate that there is a positive correlation between the dimensions of library service quality and students’ satisfaction. Regression tests revealed that offering quality library service has a positive impact on overall students’ satisfaction.