I’ll Go to the Library Later: The Relationship between Academic Procrastination and Library Anxiety

Abstract

Approximately 95 percent of college students procrastinate on academic tasks such as writing term papers, studying for examinations, and keeping up with weekly reading assignments. At the graduate level, an estimated 60 percent of students procrastinate on academic tasks. Academic procrastination stems primarily from fear of failure and task aversiveness. It has been theorized, though not tested empirically, that highly anxious graduate students typically procrastinate while engaged in library-related tasks. This study investigated the relationship between academic procrastination and library anxiety at the graduate level. Participants included 135 graduate students enrolled in three sections of a required introductory-level educational research course. Findings revealed that, overall, academic procrastination was significantly positively related to the following dimensions of library anxiety: affective barriers, comfort with the library, and mechanical barriers. A canonical correlation analysis revealed that academic procrastination resulting from both fear of failure and task aversiveness was related significantly to barriers with staff, affective barriers, comfort with the library, and knowledge of the library. Implications for library anxiety reduction as a procrastination intervention are discussed.