Continuing professional development of librarians in Public University Libraries in Uganda

Abstract

Continuing professional development (CPD) of librarians is essential to maintain professional competencies for the provision of quality library services. This is particularly important in the rapidly changing digital environment. Despite the growing importance of CPD, librarians’ views and experiences of CPD have not been researched in Uganda. Therefore, the study aimed at exploring librarians’ views and experiences of CPD in public universities in Uganda. The study was grounded within the social constructivist learning theories. From this perspective, learning is viewed as situated in context, through active participation in social practices. The study adopted an interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative multi-case study. Interviews, focus groups, document analysis, and observations were the data collection methods. Purposive, and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 37 librarians. The data were analysed using abductive thematic analysis with the aid of qualitative data analysis software package, ATLAS.ti version 8.4.26. The findings revealed that CPD is a complex concept with various meanings and interpretations. Additionally, the term CPD is not commonly used within the university setting. The participants valued CPD as a means of keeping up-to-date, developing new knowledge, and skills, career advancement, personal growth, and development. The participants valued CPD activities that were relevant to their learning needs, and provided opportunities for active participation networking and collaboration with colleagues. However, several contextual factors affected individual participation in CPD activities positively and negatively. The participants recommended increasing awareness about CPD, personal commitment to CPD, and mandatory CPD. The study concluded that adequate regulatory frameworks should be put in place to strengthen the planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of librarians’ CPD. Finally, a CPD framework for enhancing CPD of librarians in public universities in Uganda was proposed.