Ergonomic Suitability of Library Readers’ Furniture in a Nigerian University

The use of library reading rooms is considered an important academic activity especially in a University environment and poorly-designed furniture may affect the benefits of using the library. The study aimed to evaluate the ergonomic suitability of reading room furniture at the main library of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. 184 students (92 males and 92 females) participated in the study. The anthropometric measures of the students were obtained using the traditional methods well reported by previous researchers and the results were compared with those of the furniture dimensions available at the library. A high level of mismatch was recorded particularly with the seat heights, seat depth and seat-desk height. In fact, only about 13.3% of the participants found seats with matching height and depth for one set of furniture and about 3.0% for another set of furniture. The nature of library furniture is highly connected with deriving maximum benefit from using a library; therefore, the furniture should fit the users as much as

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