Academic Librarians’ Readiness to Adopt the Metaverse for Service Delivery

Readiness is an important psychological construct that affects people’s acceptance or otherwise of every technological innovation. In relation to the metaverse’s adoption in libraries, librarians’ readiness can significantly impact the successful implementation of the metaverse for service delivery. This study examined academic librarians’ readiness to adopt the metaverse for service delivery in university libraries in South-west, Nigeria. The study adopted a quantitative research approach using a descriptive survey design of correlational type. The population comprised 158 librarians in 9 purposively selected university libraries in Ekiti, Ogun and Osun States of the South-west, Nigeria. Using total enumeration sampling, all 158 professional librarians were chosen for this study, who provided data through a self-designed questionnaire. Of these, 119 copies of the questionnaire were returned and found adequate for analysis. The instrument was validated, and its reliability was established using Cronbach’s Alpha (α = 0.890). Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation (PPMC). The findings revealed that 61.3% of respondents were ready to adopt the metaverse, while 24.4% indicated uncertainty and 14.3% indicated unwillingness. Librarians demonstrated the highest readiness for Virtual Reality (VR) (x̄ = 3.53) and for user education services (x̄ = 3.54), while readiness was lowest for Lifelogging (x̄ = 2.34) and information literacy services (x̄ = 2.01). Hypothesis testing revealed a statistically significant positive relationship between librarians’ readiness to adopt the metaverse and the services for which it can be adopted (r = 0.545, p = 0.000 < 0.05); hence, Ho1 was rejected. The study concludes that librarians demonstrate considerable readiness, but practical adoption is constrained by skills gaps, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient funding, technology anxiety and organisational resistance.