JOB SATISFACTION AMONG LIBRARIANS IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page        —      —          —          —          —          —          —          —          i

Approval page      –          —          —          —          —          —          —          ii

Certification    —             —          —          —          —          —          —          iii

Dedication      —              —          —          —          —          —          —          iv

Acknowledgements    —             —          —          —          —          —          v

Abstract          —               —          —          —          —          —          —          vi

Table of Content         —            —          —          —          —          —          vii

List of Tables  —           —          —          —          —          —          —          viii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION            —          —          —          1

            Background to the Study              —          —          —          —          1

            Statement of the Problem             —          —          —          —          9

            Purpose of the Study  —    —          —          —          —          10

            Research Questions     —    —          —          —          —          —          10

            Significance of the Study         —          —          —          —          11

            Scope of the study      —          —          —          —          —          11       

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE –          13       

      Conceptual Framework —   —          —          —          —          —          13

Causes of Job Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction in Academic Libraries  13

Factors Affecting Job Satisfaction    —          —          —          —          16

Strategies for Improving Job Satisfaction        —          —          —          20

      Review of Related Empirical Studies         —          —          —          22

      Summary of Literature Review     —          —          —          —          24       

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODS –          —          —          26

Research Design       –          —          —          —          —          26

Area of Study —      —          —          —          —          —          26       

Population of the Study              —          —          —          —          27       

Sample and Sampling Technique          —          —          —          —          27       

Instrument for Data Collection       —          —          —          —          27

Validation of Instrument      –          —          —          —          —          27       

Method of Data Collection           —          —          —          —          28       

Method of Data Analysis          —          —          —          —          28

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF DATA        —          —          29

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION  AND CONCLUSION   –          35

Discussion of Findings    —          —          —          —          —          35

Implications of the Study    —          —          —          —          —          36

Recommendations  –          —          —          —          —          —          37       

Limitations of the Study        —          —          —          —          37       

Suggestions for Further Research            —          —          —          38

Conclusion     —          —          —          —          —          —          38

REFERENCES         —          —          —          —          —          —          40

APPENDIXES             —          —          —          —          —          —          42

LIST OF TABLES

Tables                                                                                              Pages

1. Mean Responses of Librarians on Level of Satisfaction        —          —          —          29
2. Mean Responses of Librarians on Behavior when not Satisfied        —          —          30
3. Mean Responses of Librarians on Factors Responsible for Job Satisfaction  —          31
4. Mean Responses of Librarians on Problems Associated with Job Satisfaction          33
5. Mean Responses of Librarians on Strategies to Enhance Job Satisfaction     —          32

ABSTRACT

The research work carried out was Job satisfaction among academic librarians in academic libraries in Niger State. The general objective of the study is to find out the level of job satisfaction found among the academic librarians in academic libraries in Niger state. The survey research design was used to conduct the study. The population of the study was the 58 academic librarians in Niger state. Due to the small number of the librarians involved no sampling technique was adopted, therefore all the academic librarians were used for the study. Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection and the data was analyzed using mean. The results from the findings showed that there is commendable level of job satisfaction among the librarians; the librarians do not resort to lateness to work, abandoning duty, and loss of morale when they are not satisfied with their job, friendly subordinates and positive working environment are some of the factors responsible for job satisfaction. Lack of opportunities for socialization and promotion, lack of managerial skills by the administrators and bad library tools are some of the problems associated with job satisfaction, and annual leave, medical coverage, friendly and competent subordinates are some of the strategies for encouraging and enhancing job satisfaction. It is recommended that the librarians in these academic libraries should be encouraged through sponsorship to attend workshops and seminars. The researcher also recommended that annual leave and medical coverage should be made a regular benefit for the librarians; it was also recommended that academic librarians should be encouraged through sponsorship to attend conferences, workshops and seminars as these will enable them acquire more knowledge and competence.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Academic libraries refer to all the libraries that exist in institutions of higher learning ranging from universities, polytechnics, colleges of Education, and any other form of tertiary institution. Their major aim is to provide the curricular educational needs of the students and the entire academic community, example, supporting the teaching staff in the up – to – date materials required for their teaching jobs. Since the Nigerian independence in 1960, the academic libraries have not been accorded the position they deserve, owing partly to the disruption of political leadership, poor economic situation, and nonchalant attitude of the parent institutions. Moreover, the librarians who have managed the libraries have not been so concerned about how their libraries should look like in terms of architectural designs and resources improvement (Ekere, 2006). According to him, the site of a library should permit sufficient space for ornamental trees, a good drainage system, elaborate parking lot, toilets, and lots more. In the context of this study, it is important to consider the welfare/ happiness of the librarians while planning, for the academic library environment putting into account, the furnishing of their offices, good toilets and so on.

One of the biggest factors that is affecting the environment of academic libraries today is the in ability of the government to contract the establishment of library architecture/buildings to the professionals (Librarians) hence “out of annoyance, the librarians usually abandon such contractors and never bothered about what is happening. Since the librarians are not mentioned in the statutes in the establishment of libraries, they do not form part of the decision making body in the ministry of education. They usually feel disillusioned to contribute to the design of the library buildings even when they have ideas on better things to do (Ekere, 2006).

In a text, Ode and Omokaro (2007), academic libraries are those libraries established, owned and funded by university which they are part. Thus, they are often referred to as academic libraries. As integral part of the institutions which they serve, they design their collections and services to meet the instructional program of the particular institution. Academic libraries are recent phenomenon in Africa as a whole (Ode and Omokaro, 2007). In Nigeria, the first academic libraries came in to being with the founding of the University of Ibadan in 1948. Many however, sprang up as from 1960 with the establishment of more universities.

            The primary objective of an academic library is to offer those who may be said to constitute its primary clientele (the faculty, students and academic staff of the institution), the academic and research services in support of the programs of the university of which it is part (Ode and Omokaro, 2007). The objectives of academic libraries as out lined   by Ifidon (1985) are as follows:

• To supply books, periodicals and other materials needed by students and staff in all the subjects of study which the institution offers to the required levels. This sets the framework within which the academic rather than a public library has to justify its presence and be related to students needs and be related to research in the courses which the institution offers.
• To provide support for the teaching and research of the members of the staff in the same subject, with regards to facilities available in other libraries. It is proper that staff should have support for work and research in subjects taught in the institution. With the tremendous developments taking place in a new scheme and methods, it is vital that academics should see research work as always relevant and beneficial to the local and international needs.
• To provide for a wide range of background reading of books and periodicals both in subjects close to those of the curriculum and in more general cultural fields. Each librarian will assess needs variously here. The library should provide materials to support the various programs offered by the institution.
• To help students to become familiar with the library stock. The ability of many students to use the academic library in an adequate and efficient way should be the concern of many academic libraries.
• To help with the day – to – day needs of the users by supplying them with ready reference information and special materials about the locality where the institution is located.
• To act as a link with world of books and library outside its own institution being ready to draw up the special resources of many other institutions and to make its own contribution to the various co – operative schemes.
• To provide guides, lists of additions, current awareness services, reading lists and other publications, and to hold displays and exhibitions of library materials inside and outside the library in order to reinforce the teaching of staff and illustrate the libraries resources.

     The following are the major functions of academic libraries:

1. Conservation of knowledge and ideas: Every academic library is supposed to conserve knowledge and ideas by acquisition of materials written by different authors throughout the world. These materials could be books, journals, and non book materials which have relevant information to satisfy the information needs of the students and the entire academic community. It is when the librarians are not satisfied that most of them will start exhibiting the I don’t care attitude which affects most importantly the shelf reading.
2. To fulfill both the needs of the instructional program of the parent institution and the research needs of the students, faculty staff members and people outside the academic community through the collection and acquisition of knowledge in all formats.
3. To organize knowledge for easy storage and retrieval – the technical process which include ordering, receiving, accessioning, cataloguing, classification and preparing materials have always been the primary services performed by academic libraries. Though patrons are not aware of these essential services hence it is referred to as “behind the scene services” Ode and Omokaro, (2007).
4. Making resources available to users and preserving knowledge for posterity. In supporting the instructional and research needs of their students and faculties, the academic libraries provide maximum access to collections.
5. Publication: an academic library is expected to publish occasionally, some important works done by their staff or even those outside. In addition, academic library staff can give technical assistance to academic staff outside the libraries who might want to publish bibliographies, indexes and abstracts and does not know how to do it.

Academic librarians are the people or persons in charge of the academic library, library workers trained in the field of library science or librarianship with at least first degree, they are the people to whom the collection, preservation, use and transmission of information and knowledge are entrusted, (Obodoeze 2001). Apart from the above note, academic librarians are faces with other duties like, ensuring the development of a balance collection, oversees services to the library clientele, administers staff, prepares library budget, plans new library building or maintenance of an old one., prepares annual report, co ordinates library development programs. The librarians after carrying out the above functions ought to be motivated. To achieve maximum input to the library services.  Ekere (2006) suggested the following motivational points:

• Good remuneration
• Physical conditions (improved environment)
• Hours of service (by the library system)
• Hours of work (by individual staff)
• Leaves of absence (vacation and sick leave)
• Promotion and tenure
• Retirement benefits
• Dismissal of unworthy/ incompetent staff.

From the fore going, it is obvious that if the librarians are not motivated appropriately, they would not be satisfied with their jobs and the consequences could result to not coming to work early, irregular shelf reading, I don’t care attitudes by the academic librarians and more. These would not be felt by the students alone but also by the lecturers and the entire academic community because the library is the brain of every institution and the librarians are the driving forces.

            A job according to the Learners Oxford Dictionary is a particular task or piece of work that you have to do; work for which you receive regular payment. A job is anything that one does to earn a living. One can therefore say that a good job is any work that one does and gets satisfaction. Satisfaction on the other hand is the good feeling that you have when you have achieved something or when something you wanted to happen does happen. Job satisfaction has been defined as the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s  job, an affective reaction to one’s job and attitude towards ones job (Weiss, 2002). It is the feelings that people have about their jobs. Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job; the happier people are within their job, the more satisfied they are said to be. (Weiss 2002) also noted that job satisfaction is an attitude but points out that researchers should clearly distinguish the objects of cognitive evaluation which are the affects, beliefs and behaviors. This definition suggests that we form attitudes towards our job by taking into account our feelings, our beliefs and our behaviors. Moods and emotions while working are raw materials which cumulate to form the affective element of job satisfaction, (Weiss & Cropanzo 1996). There are some evidence in the literature which suggest that moods are related to overall job satisfaction. Positive and negative emotions were also found to be significantly related to overall job satisfaction. For decades, researchers have been concerned with the job satisfaction – job performance relationship; the implicit assumption guiding this research has been that, a happy worker is a productive worker. Based on this assertion, job satisfaction can therefore result from a job that meets or promises to meet one’s needs. In view of that, Ugbene (1990) noted that a Librarian will not be motivated to do his work if he feels that his needs are not met in the library. Failure to satisfy their needs will lead to frustration which will eventually affect the productivity and or performance of the librarians, and this in turn could affect both the students, staff and the entire academic community. This research work will go a long way in bringing out the relationship job satisfaction and some known job dimensions such as pay, promotion, supervision, contingent rewards, benefits, communication, the work itself, the operational procedure in the work place and interpersonal relationship.

            People approach their jobs with two different expectations, viz: expectation with respect to the job content and expectation with respect to the job context. Expectations with regards to the job content include the nature of the work, recognition, achievement, responsibility and growth in the skill and these are called Intrinsic”. The expectations as regards job context which include the working condition, salary, security and coworkers’ relationship are known as “Extrinsic” factor, Abdulrahman, (2007). It is the Intrinsic and Extrinsic factors of the job that causes satisfied or dissatisfied feeling about the job. This is true because the attainment of the aspiration and expectations about the job produce feeling of satisfaction while frustration or lack of the attainment of aspirations about the job causes dissatisfaction. Another important aspect of job satisfaction that should not be looked down is communication which boils down to superior- subordinate relationship in a broader term. This is an important influence on job satisfaction in the work place, the way in which the subordinates perceive a supervisor’s behavior can positively or negatively influence job satisfaction. Communication behaviors such as facial expression, eye contacts, vocal expression and body movement is crucial to the superior- subordinate relationship. Non verbal messages play a central role in interpersonal interactions with respect to impression, action, deception, attraction, social influence and emotional expression. Individuals who dislikes and thinks negatively of their supervisor are less willing to communicate or have motivation to work, where as individuals who likes and thinks positively of their supervisors are more likely to communicate and are satisfied with their jobs and work environment Burgoon, Buller and Woodall (1996).

Niger state is located in the North Central Zone of Nigeria. It was created in 1976 under the military leadership of General Yakubu Gowon. Upon the creation of Niger State, indigenes of Niger State relocated to Minna with Hon. Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi serving as both the Attorney General and Solicitor General of Niger State while Mr. Jibrin Ndajiwo served as state counsel grade II and Mr. Nuhu A. Kuso served as pupil state counsel.

Federal University of Technology Minna, established in 1983, Federal University of Technology is a Federal Government owned University located at Minna in Niger State of Nigeria. Considered as one of the specialized university of Technology, the Federal University of Technology was established with a prime objective of fulfilling the demand of the nation in sectors like Science, Engineering and Technology. The Federal University of Technology is located on a huge campus at Minna and now runs 2 campuses, Gidan kwano housing the main campus all in Minna in the state of Niger in Nigeria. The university offers comfortable infrastructural facilities for students which include accommodation, library, study and research facilities and other recreational and sports facilities.

The Federal Polytechnic Bida, the Federal Polytechnic, Bida was established by law. It was founded in response to the recognition by the Federal Government that Nigeria is in dire need of Technical and Technological resources, and the empowerment of the citizens to meet the demands of the age. The institution believes in and is firmly committed to a functioning philosophy of education. In consonance with the National Policy on Education, the Polytechnic has clearly stipulated objective, the development and training of manpower is the first. There is research for the developing and adapting of appropriate techniques to problem solving and thirdly service to the immediate as well as larger society. The edict formally establishing the Federal Polytechnic, Bida is Decree No.33 of 1979 (now the Federal Polytechnic Act of 1990, including Decree No 47 of 1989, No 5 of 1993 and other legal documents. Originally the institution was known as the Federal College of Technology, Kano. She was instituted on March 1, 1977.

Following the Federal Government’s decision to transfer the College, she finally moved to Bida on July 27, 1977. The College before 1979 was known as the Bida College of Technology. She was temporarily accommodated at the Government Technical School, Eyagi and later on moved to temporary facilities along Mokwa Road, Bida.

The Polytechnic’s first set of students admitted early in 1978 for the 1977/1978 session graduated at the Higher National Diploma (HND) level in August 1981
Niger State Polytechnic was established by Edict No 9 of 1991 to meet the technological manpower needs of Niger State and Nigeria in General.

Prior to its conversion into Niger State Polytechnic in October, 1991, the institution existed as Zungeru College of Advanced Studies (ZUCAS) which came into being in January, 1977 located at a temporary site at Government College, Bida. ZUCAS was established by the Murtala/Obasanjo Military Administration primarily to remedy the imbalance in education development between the educationally disadvantaged and advantaged states. This goal was achieved vigorously

The introduction and implementation of the 6-3-3-4 new education policy which had no provision for advanced level education attainment necessitated the phasing out of the programmes of ZUCAS and subsequently its conversion to a state polytechnic by the Edict No 9 of 1991 in July 1997. The State Government formally merged College of Administrative and Business Studies (CABS), Bida with the Polytechnic through the enactment of the Niger State Polytechnic (Amendment) Edict 1991 and CABS, Bida (transfer of assets and liabilities edict 1997).

 Job satisfaction in Niger state is confronted with the following challenges like nonpayment of salaries as at when due, no sponsorship to work shops and conferences, no good working library tools and so on. And this is the reason why the researcher wants to carry out this study in Niger state, to know what the causes are and to proffer solutions for enhancing the problem on ground.