Technology and Investment, 2021, 12, 217-239
https://www.scirp.org/journal/ti
ISSN Online: 2150-4067
ISSN Print: 2150-4059
DOI: 10.4236/ti.2021.124013 Nov. 12, 2021 217 Technology and Investment
Customer-Centric Service Provision in
Academic Libraries in Universities: Systematic
Literature Review
Christine Mayende
1,2
, Fredrick Mzee Awuor
2
, Ben Namande
2
1
Faculty of Built Environment Library, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
2
School of Information Science and Technology, Kisii University, Kisii, Kenya
Abstract
A customer-centered organization ensures that the needs of clients are at the
focal point of all services offered in the organization and that the customer
gets the best customer experience throughout the service. Research has shown
that service institutions are deterred from offering customer-centric services
due to issues relating to organizational culture, structure, processes, and fi-
nancial metrics. This study explores strategies and mechanisms to support
academic libraries towards achieving customer-centric service provision. In
this regard, this study identifies three parameters and explores their role in
delivering customer-centeredness in academic libraries, namely, access to li-
brary services, staff responsiveness and organizational support. Findings of
this study show that library customers wish for a relevant library collection,
an available service, unlimited information access, spacious reading area, a
conducive study environment, sufficient library equipment and supportive
staff.
Keywords
Customer-Centric Services, Access to Library Services, Staff Responsiveness,
Organizational Support, Customer Satisfaction
1. Background to the Study
Academic libraries are established to provide relevant information to their
clients to support learning, teaching and research functions of the universities in
which the libraries are established. Pradhan and Mohanty (2016) noted that
academic libraries are established to serve the University fraternity in provision,
dissemination and preservation of knowledge to empower the university in car-
How to cite this paper: Mayende, C.,
Awuor, F. M., & Namande, B. (2021). Cus-
tomer-Centric Service Provision in Aca-
demic Libraries in Universities: Systematic
Literature Review. Technology and Invest-
ment, 12, 217-239.
https://doi.org/10.4236/ti.2021.124013
Received: September 20, 2021
Accepted: November 9, 2021
Published: November 12, 2021
Copyright © 2021 by author(s) and
Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
License (CC BY 4.0).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Open Access