EXTENT OF LIBRARIANS’ MOTIVATION IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES INSOUTH-EAST NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the extent of librarians’ motivation in public libraries in  South-east  geopolitical  zone  of  Nigeria,  comprising  Abia,  Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. Five research questions guided the investigation. The descriptive survey design was adopted in the study. Structured  questionnaire,  interviews,  and  record  examination  and  analysis were used to collect the data for the study. Three senior lecturers from the Department of Library and Information Science, University of Nigeria, at the request of the researcher subjected the instruments used for the study to face validation   and   confirmed   their   suitability   for   the   study   after   making suggestions and modifications. The questionnaires were administered to respondents and collected on the same day. The data collected were collated, analyzed using descriptive statistics involving mean frequencies, standard deviation and percentages. The findings of the study showed that librarians’ motivation  and  productivity  in  the  public  libraries  in  the  south-east  geo- political zone of Nigeria was low. Furthermore, it was discovered that there is a chain reciprocal relationship between librarians’ motivation, productivity and conditions of service, funding, work environment, and training. The study also found  out  that  motivational  elements  such  as  adequate  funding,  prompt payment of salaries and regular promotions were lacking in these libraries. Training opportunities where they existed were not exploited. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended, among others, that the governments of the  states  where  these  libraries  are  located  should  increase  the  yearly budgetary allocations of the libraries by at least 200%. Training opportunities should be funded by the governments as sponsoring agents and such opportunities should be well exploited by the librarians themselves. Salaries and  other  fringe  benefits  should  be  regularly  and  promptly  paid.  The limitations of the study, suggestions for further research and conclusion are also given.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

This study set out to investigate the extent of librarians’ motivation in the public libraries in south-east states of Nigeria. As part of its theoretical background, the researcher made attempts to discuss some of the key issues that gave the work its focus.

This study set out to investigate the extent of librarians’ motivation in the public libraries in south-east states of Nigeria. As part of its theoretical background, the researcher made attempts to discuss some of the key issues that gave the work its focus.

One of the critical issues examined in this regard is the meaning as well as the objectives of public libraries. The public library is an important organisation which has been developed for the promotion of informal and continuing  education of  the  members  of  a  society.  perspectives  about  the meaning  of  public  libraries  often  differ  among  scholars.  According  to Olanlokun and Salisu (1993), public libraries are libraries set up to provide free but traditional services to everyone. Adio and Olasino (2005) have also described public libraries as the people’s university in a democratic society operated for the people by the people. Adio and Olasino further argue that public libraries conserve and organise human knowledge in order to place it

freely in the service of the community without reference to creed, social status, religion, or the ethnic background of the readers.

Public libraries are in the main public organisations set up and funded by governments or communities to cater for the literacy and the educational needs of the members of the communities where they are located. According to IFLA/UNESCO 2004 manifestoes, a public library is an organisation established, supported,  and funded by the community either through local, regional, or national governments or through other forms of community organization  which  provides  access  to  knowledge,  information  and  other works of imagination through a range of resources and services. A public library, the manifesto further states, is open to the general public irrespective of age, sex, social and religious status and language.

Ajibero (1985) contends that it is therefore not out of tune to conceive of a public library as the traditional and basic community information center whose purpose for existence is to meet societal needs by accumulating information and  storing  knowledge,  and by  disseminating  information and knowledge. This implies that public libraries are established with the objective of  serving  as  schooling  centers  for  the  acquisition  of  knowledge  and information as well as the civilization of the people. Ikegbune (1997) argues that the public library has now acquired wider and varied responsibilities in promoting individual development, commercial and technical progress, social and  cultural  advancement  which  demand  both  access  to  extensive,  well

maintained stocks of books, periodicals and other communication media as well as the services of experts and specialized staff. A major characteristic of the public library is that it provides its users the opportunity for self-education and helps them to acquire reading habits and culture which are critical for literacy.

Any discussion about the public library that fails to account for the workforce and the professionals who manage the activities in such a library is far from being adequate. It will be difficult for a public library to exist and function without people who are skilled in librarianship and who possess cognate qualifications in library and information sciences. Such professionals are called librarians. Ikegbune (1997) cites Webster’s Third New International Dictionary as stating that a librarian is a specialist in the care and management of a library. By extension, and in the context of this study, a public librarian is a professional who cares for and manage the holdings of a public library for effective use by its clientele. Public librarians are information professionals who help to give meaning to the resources of such libraries by ensuring adequacy of stock, effective preservation and storage of materials and their accessibility   to   reader  satisfaction  and   which   in   a   way  reflects  their productivity.

According to the 2004 UNESCO document, the function of public libraries include among others, providing opportunities for personal creative development,  promoting  individual  education  at  all  levels,  stimulating  the

imagination and the creativity of children and young people, supporting oral traditions, creating and strengthening reading habits in children at an early age, facilitating the development of information and computer literacy skills. The extent to which public libraries perform these functions depends on the commitment of the librarians who serve in them. The human factor should command the special attention of any management in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives. It is in this regard that motivation becomes an important issue in this study.

Different scholars see motivation in different ways. For example, Lindgren (1976:39) defined motivation as an aspect of inside forces that impel human thoughts, feelings and actions. The United Nations Educational and Scientific   Cultural   Organization   (UNESCO)   Manifesto   (2004)   further stipulates that  the  public  library  as  a  local  centre  of  information  requires adequate funding to meet its obligations and recommends proper and regular professional training of the librarians. Croome (1989) supports this view in that statement that training is an important factor that helps to determine and shape productivity in an organization. A trained staff because he has the know- how is an asset to the organization he serves.

Other factors which any organization requires for efficiency and maximum output are capital, equipment, conducive work environment, good reward system in the form of promotions, salaries and wages, etc. Manpower or labour has been identified as the most significant factor since it is people

that will organize the other resources to function as factors of production. In the  context of  the  present  study,  the  librarians  are  the  people  who  make libraries resources function.

Ugah (2008:2) cites Kreitner (1995) as stating that motivation is the psychological process that give behaviour purpose. He also quotes Buford, Bedeian and Lander (1995) as saying that motivation is a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific unmet needs. In the context of this study, motivation must be seen as the predisposition of librarians to give quality, maximum, and satisfactory services to the clientele all times. Elements and motivation must be seen in the work environment and in the conditions of service for this to happen. As Majelantle can play a role in reducing  staff  turn-over.  Job  satisfaction  is  a  product  of  high  level  of motivation in the workforce brought about the presence of elements of motivation in the work environment.

Mullins  (1996) identifies these  elements  in three  ways as economic rewards,  intrinsic  satisfaction,  and social relationships.  Motivation  is often associated with four dominant characteristics; namely:

(i)      It is an individual phenomenon

(ii)     It is intentional

(iii)    It is multi-dimensional

(iv)    Its theories predict behaviour (Mitchell, 1982).

There are several theories of motivation. Skehan (1989:48) refers to what he has called the intrinsic hypothesis in which motivation is a function of the desire to work (as a librarian) because the work conditions and environmental situations are attractive. To this, he adds the resultative hypothesis in which people who work hard are rewarded: McKeachie-Doyle (1971:208) identifies achievement motivation as an expectancy of pleasure from accomplishing a task in a way that reaches some standard of excellence. This he argues is the kind  of  motivation  that  will  be  expected  in  a  work  force  with  high productivity. The present study notes that the motivation theories give support and relevance to our concerns. Other theories of motivation will be examined under our theoretical framework in the next chapter.

Motivation is a critical element that can drive and sustain productivity in the public library. Luthans (1998) asserts that one way of stimulating people to work is the employ effective motivation which makes workers more satisfied with and committed to their jobs.

Motivation-related Factors

Factors that are related to economic and social issues help to determine the extent of motivation among staff in an organization. Kaya (1995) found that librarians were dissatisfied with job recognition, job security promotion, social status, wages, social services authority and responsibility.

Flecks (2002) includes training and salaries as factors which bring about the motivation of staff in an organisation. Banjoko (1996) sees compensation

of employees as the totality of the financial and other non-financial rewards that an employee receives in return for his or her services. He also states that this basic pay and other numerous benefits and incentives in totality determine how well an employee lives in the society in which he is a part.

Public Libraries in South-East Nigeria

The  history  of  public  libraries  in  the  South-eastern  Nigeria  which include Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States could be traced back to

1955  when the Eastern Region  Library  Board  was established  by  Eastern Nigeria Act to render library services to the people of the region. The Nigerian Civil War caused a split of the region. After that war, a part of the Eastern Region became the East Central State of Nigeria with an autonomous state government. The East Central State government by an Edict in 1973, set up the East Central State Library Board. This Board was charged with the duty of providing library services to the citizens. As further political reforms took place in Nigeria, five states were carved out of the former East Central State. The emerging states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo built their own public libraries and inherited the 1973 Edict of the parent East Central State Library Board. The states were not created at the same time. As each emergent state appeared and a library board was formed for public libraries that will serve the citizens to be established, the state was split again and called another name. this situation has serious implications for librarians’ motivation in the public libraries in the zone.

Statement of the Problem

Motivation  is  a  catalyst  or  energizer  in  every  human  enterprise especially in service-oriented establishments such as the public library. But it is common knowledge today in Nigeria that most public institutions are being privatized. Those that cannot be privatized are suffering serious neglect by being starved of funds and infrastructure. This is the plight of most public libraries in Nigeria. Studies have shown that unsatisfactory work environment can have adverse effects on workers’ motivation (Chislity and Cloudhry, 1996; Gilhert and Walker, 2001).

Most of the libraries in the South-east States of Nigeria had started in primary school buildings as temporary site and it is not certain whether the environmental conditions of these libraries have changed and whether they have relevant working facilities which can enhance their motivation in the face of the neglect which most public institutions suffer. Again, according to UNESCO document (2000) most of the staff in Nigerian public libraries lack training for efficiency service delivery. It is doubtful if the librarians in the south-east states enjoy regular payment of salaries and promotions such extrinsic factors that stimulate and enhance motivation.

Regrettably, there is no study known to the present researcher which has investigated the extent of librarians’ motivation in the south-east states. Therefore, the issues raised above have led us to ask “what is extent of librarians’ motivation in the public libraries of south-east states. Carrying out

such a study is not only necessary but compelling if these public libraries will play their roles in service delivery satisfactorily.

Purpose of Study

The general purpose of the study is to identify the extent of librarians’ motivation in public libraries in South-Eastern Nigeria. Specifically, the study seeks to ascertain:

1.        If the librarians in the five public libraries in South Eastern States of Nigeria are adequately trained to enhance their productivity and  are  adequately  motivated  for  better  performance  of  their duties.

2.       If the librarians are adequately remunerated for their hard work to enhance their motivation.

3.       Whether there are strategies to enhance librarians’ motivation in the five public libraries in the South-Eastern Nigeria.

4.     If the working environment of these public libraries on which

the study is carried  out is conducive for high motivation and effective job performance.

5.       If  librarians’  promotions  and  remunerations  were  prompt  and regular enough to enhance motivation and productivity.

Research Questions

The following research questions are therefore raised to guide the study:

1.   To what extent are librarians in public libraries in South-East Nigeria trained to achieve high productivity?

2.   What is the extent of motivation given to librarians in public libraries in

South-Eastern Nigeria for better performance of their duties?

3.  What is the nature of the working environment of the public librarians of

South-East Nigeria for the performance of their duties?

4.  How regularly are the librarians in the public libraries of South-Eastern

Nigeria promoted to sustain motivation and productivity?

5.  What measures could be used  to enhance librarians’ motivation and productivity in the public libraries of South-Eastern Nigeria?

Significance of the Study

The benefits that will accrue from the findings of the study are many and will be of benefit to different groups such as the library management, government, corporate organizations, researchers, librarians, curriculum planners. For instance, the management of the public libraries is expected to apply the findings of this study to improve their programmes and services to enhance productivity. The librarians of these public libraries are expected to benefit from the findings especially when their training and retraining programmes are implemented which will enable them to be innovative and creative in providing services and managing resources. This, and other incentives will help bring about positive attitude of librarians towards their work which will result in better job delivery and higher productivity.

Not only that researchers are expected to benefit from the study by using the study to get background information for their studies in the area of motivation and productivity in public libraries, above all, the findings from the

study will help to highlight those areas where there are problems among staff and  thus the  study  will  be of  great benefit  to  the government and policy makers. In the event of government or corporate organizations deciding to organize seminars and workshops for librarians in future, it is hoped that the findings help them to understand the peculiar issues on which participants should be addressed. This is particularly directed to the establishments that are prone to thinking that the intractable problems of public Librarians is finance and not manpower-motivation. It will also help to re-evaluate aspects of motivation,   training,   compensation,   and   promotion   which   bear   strong relevance to library image, productivity, efficiency, and morals. This, in turn, could help to identify the motivational needs of the public libraries and to formulate policies which will meet the needs of the public libraries.

Scope of the Study

This study covered public libraries in the South Eastern Nigeria which comprises Anambra, Abia, lmo, Enugu, and Ebonyi States. The research work concentrated on the extent of motivation of the librarians in these five public libraries  in  South-East  geopolitical  zone  of  Nigeria  and  made recommendations for possible strategies to enhance librarians’ motivation in the public libraries studied.

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