Work Environment and the Job Satisfaction of Librarians in Private Universities in South-East and South-West, Nigeria

The need for a conducive work environment and job satisfaction is heightened by the conviction that the university library constitutes the powerhouse of knowledge responsible for providing information materials for teaching, learning and research. The study, therefore, investigated the relationship between work environment and the job satisfaction of Librarians in private universities in South-East and South-West, Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research design. The population of the study consisted of one hundred and eighty-one (181) librarians. Total enumeration technique was employed for the study. Data was collected using a self-structured questionnaire that was scrutinized by experts and subjected to a reliability test using Cronbach Alpha. The questionnaire was considered reliable and valid with a reliability coefficient of .90. Analyses of data was carried out using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results affirmed that private university libraries in South-East and South-West, Nigeria have good work environments as indicated in the average mean score of ( = 3.8) even though issues of noise level and power supply received low ratings. It also established that librarians in the study area are satisfied with their jobs ( = 3.5) irrespective of the fact that reward systems (financial and non-financial), including untimely payment of salaries received low ratings. A positive relationship was established between work environment and job satisfaction (r = .856, p\u3c.05). The study, therefore, concluded that work environment has significant effect on job satisfaction and recommended that library management should invest in the welfare of librarians to enhance job satisfaction amongst others. Job satisfaction, Librarians, Work environment, Private university libraries