An assessment of reference services offered at Sokoine national agricultural library Marcelina Mbehoma Coelestine

This study examined the efficiency and effectiveness of reference services offered at the Sokoine National Agricultural Library (SNAL) of the Sokoine University of Agriculture. Data was collected through a structured and standardized self-administered questionnaire with open ended and closed questions, face-to-face interviews, observations and content analysis. Both purposive non probability sampling and convenient techniques were used to obtain samples of 118 respondents which included 11 library staff, 107 library users, the Director of the SNAL Library Services, the Heads of the Reference Section and ICT Unit. Key findings revealed that the SNAL offered a variety of reference services to its users, but the effectiveness and efficiency of the services were hindered by various challenges which included inadequate funding, inadequate current reference resources, inadequate number of library staff, lack of formal information literacy training programme, the unreliable power supply and poor internet connectivity. The study recommended that the budget of the SNAL should be increased in order to purchase current and adequate reference resources and equipment. Also, an Information Literacy Training Programme should be formally planned and incorporated into the university curriculum finally, a reliable power supply should be introduced to enable users exploit electronic resources every time they were required