An examination of library anxiety among students at Dhaka University

Abstract

Library anxiety is manifested in the form of negative feelings, fear, stress, distress, confusion and has debilitating effects on students’ academic performance. This research explores library anxiety amongst Dhaka university students and identifies factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The factors are identified using the questionnaire approach collected from 350 undergraduate and postgraduate students at Dhaka University. The factors which may lead to library anxiety comprise of negative perceptions towards academic library environment, negative perceptions towards library staff, affective barriers, negative perceptions towards peers, negative perceptions towards library services, negative perceptions towards library collections, negative perceptions towards library regulations, and cognitive barriers. The individual difference underlying library anxiety is described.