The Role of Academic Library in Facilitating Graduate and Post Graduate Students: The Case of the University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Introduction and Background of the Study The university library has prominent role to play in supporting higher education to fulfill objectives of its parent body. Students in higher education are to be provided with the facilities necessary for mastering the subject matter, techniques, skills, habits of thought, and methods of work in their chosen field. Classroom instructions alone will not provide all the opportunities needed for attaining all these complex educational objectives. It is here that the libraries come to help the students. The university library is collection of sources, services and the building in which it is housed. It provides access to various resources in order to support teaching, learning and research activities (Vishala & Bhandi, 2009). In academic institutes both academicians as well researchers mostly depend on the library resources and facilities. No doubt quick and easy access to such resources accelerates both academic and research activities more effectively. According to Krolak (2005), university library assist in finding, using and interpreting appropriate information that opens up opportunities for lifelong learning, literacy enhancement, informed citizenship, creative imagination, individual research, critical thinking, and ultimately, empowerment in an increasingly complex world. This equitable access to information is essential to enable educated and informed citizens to participate in democratic global community. University is community of scholars and students engaged in the task of seeking truth. The university library also supports the course curriculum and assesses the researchers to extend their research work and create new knowledge successfully (Higham, 1980). Furthermore, Young and Belanger (1983) defines university library as: a library, or system of libraries, established, supported and administered by university to meet the information needs of its students, faculty and support its instructional research and service programs. These services are needed to enable an individual to develop full potentials and extend the horizons of perception, interests and skills. Khan and Bhatti (2012) noted that academic institutes could not achieve its twin task of spreading knowledge and extending its research progress till it has not first provided itself to enrich library resources and services. On the other hand, to offer quality information services, the university authority should have cyclic and systematic evaluation policy in order to maintain and to further improve the quality of services to meet the information needs of users. According to Hussain and Abalkhail (2013), evaluation of the quality of library services could be achieved by taking feedback from users as they are the best judges to quality. It also assists to indicate the performance of the services provided for the library users. The role of university library is obviously to meet the research and information needs of its community. If we look at the functioning of university in the developed world, they manage to provide their clients with local and remote access to collections in all kinds of formats. This is not the case in the less developed countries like Pakistan. The university library collections have been based mainly on books and then serial publications like newspapers, magazines and journals (Ameen, 2005; Bhatti, September 2008). Central Library University of Peshawar The University of Peshawar, established in 1950, is the mother University of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It is situated about 10 Kilometers North-West from the city center on the main Grand Trunk road leading towards Torkham (Pak-Afghan Boarder also called the Durand Line). It ranks as the 5th best university of Pakistan in the Higher Education Commission (HEC) ranking list. It has presently 6 faculties run by teaching faculty of 592, three campuses, five constituent colleges, three constituent schools and over 14000 on campus students. …