Self-assessment of the competencies of professional librarians in the provinces of Capiz and Aklan: Basis for a proposed competencies enhancement program for librarians

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess the competency level of librarians in the Provinces of Capiz and Aklan as perceived by themselves based on the 2015 National Competency-Based Standard for Filipino Librarians (NCBSFL). Conducted in February 2017, this descriptive-relational research made use of a one shot survey design. Data were collected through a library visit and interview among the 43 professional librarians using a researcher-made questionnaire. The collected data were processed through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and employed statistical tools such as percentages, means and gamma coefficient in the data analyses. The study revealed that most of the respondents were between 31-50 years old, highly qualified, highly experienced, actively participates in seminars/trainings and received a moderate administrative support. The respondents had high competence in the areas of ethics and values, customer service, interpersonal skills and leadership skills, but fell short in cultural practices, communication and lifelong learning and personal growth. In general, more than half of the librarians were at high competence in personal competencies. In the area of management of information resources, the respondents were at high competence in the skills of selection and acquisition, collection management, cataloguing, but they fell short in e-resources management. In the area of management of information services, librarians perceived themselves high in access services, readers’ advisory and reference/information, but low in in patron training skills, information literacy, children services and public services/outreach. As to the area of management of information tools, the respondents registered high competence in the skills of email, operating system, hardware and internet; however registered low competence in the skills of web tools and application of information tools and technologies. In terms of management of information organizations, respondents rated themselves high in the skills of personnel management, strategic planning/policy formulation, facilities management, yet rated low in the skills of financial management/budgeting/funding and collaboration/networking and in project management/research. The area of management of information resources had highest proportions of high competence librarians followed by the area in the management of tools and technologies. Overall, less than half of the librarians were at high competence, while more than one-thirds were at moderate competence in the professional competencies. There is a negligible relationship between age and seminars/trainings attended and the level of personal competencies; while a low to moderate relationships were found between educational attainments, length of experience and the level of personal competencies. Age was found to have slight influence but seminars/trainings attended is associated with the level of professional competencies. Moreover, educational attainment, length of experience and administrative support is moderately related to the level of professional competencies. A proposed competencies enhancement program was formulated based on the findings of this study for the Capiz State University System.