The Role of Schools and Public Libraries in Promoting Reading Habit among Children and Adolescents in Nigeria
Reading is very vital to progress and development human life and its in the development of children and adolescents cannot be over emphasized. The paper, therefore examines the role of school and public libraries in promoting reading habits among children and adolescents. In an age of modern information and communication technologies (ICTS), with proliferation of televisions and video players, it was uncommon to see children and adolescents carrying books to read. Technology is slowing but very steadying taking over the control of children and adolescents lives and cultivation of a good reading habit has gone with the wind. They have gradually abandoned book reading to pursue interests in movie watching and recently, surfing and chatting on the net. Empty school and public libraries are a silent witness of this dread picture. There are diverse ways of promoting reading habits among groups of young people which include programmes such as clubs, mobile reading tents, book talk, and story hours, among others. School and public libraries play a leading role in the reading habit of children and adolescents. The challenges and implication of poor reading habits were discussed. The paper concludes by admonishing parents to encourage the provision of reading materials and utilization to avoid information famine. Key words: Children and Adolescents, Reading Habit, School and Public Libraries, Nigeria.
Perceptions of final year undergraduate education students about the influence of a reading culture on their academic achievement at selected universities in Tanzania.
Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2017.
Evaluation of buckling load and dynamic performance of steel shear wall retrofitted with strips made of shape memory alloy
One of the most imperfections of the steel shear wall is out of plane displacements that cause severe damage in both structural and non-structural elements. In this paper, the effects of shape-memory alloys on steel shear walls are investigated. First, a numerical analysis using the finite element method in ABAQUS software has been carried out according to an experimental test. The results of the numerical analysis have been verified with experimental results. Next, shape-memory alloy fibers have been added vertically and horizontally to various parts of the steel shear wall. The results show that retrofitting with the shape-memory alloy reduces the out-of-plane displacement of the steel shear wall under both cyclic and seismic loadings. Besides, the buckling load in the steel shear wall increases when it is retrofitted with the shape-memory alloy. Also, the total out-of-plane movement (accumulated absolute displacements) of the steel shear wall and non-structural damage are controlled by the characteristic of a shape-memory alloy material called “super-elastic”.