STAFF MOTIVATION IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
‘Libraries act as regular and up-to-date information providers, which are managed by persons having different motives, drives, attitudes, and perceptions’ (Mallaiah and Yadapadithaya 2009, 36). Library staffs have a major role to play in the day to day running of the organisation; they are the ones that ensure that the library’s objectives are met. They are key resources of the library and a significant portion of the libraries budget is accounted to them (Rowley 1996). This shows that employees should be well taken care of in the organisation so that they remain productive. In this competitive age, it is important that library management ensure that employees are motivated at all times, so that service delivery remains effective and efficient while customer satisfaction remains indisputable. Lamptey, Boateng and Antwi (2013) also concur that motivation is vital to boost perfomance in an organisation.
The study is important as literature has shown that motivation is vital to employees’ performance and service delivery, especially in libraries where the role of the library extends to ensuring quality education by providing relevant information resources for research and decision making (Siamuzwe 2012). Walsh (2005, 16) affirms that: ‘It is a commonly held belief that having well-motivated staff is a significant factor in providing an effective library and information service’. Rowley (1996) also asserts that motivation is fundamental in the establishment and promotes the development of quality service. Motivation is at the core of everything libraries do. As public libraries are for everybody and different types of users visit the library, motivated librarians are extremely important to serve a variety of patrons. Hence, this study was carried out in selected public libraries to explore the factors affecting motivation among library staff.
Motivation is a matter of concern in all sectors of Botswana like any other place. Hence, various researchers have carried out several studies on motivation. For example, Mueller (1983) conducted a study on the ‘Expectancy Theory in developing nations: Motivating Botswana public servants’; Maphorisa (1987) investigated ‘Job satisfaction of Batswana secondary school teachers’; Hulela (1988) studied ‘The perceived importance of Herzberg’s ten motivational factors to job satisfaction of practising registered midwives’; and Letshwenyo (2008) carried out a study on ‘Factors contributing to teacher motivation in Botswana secondary schools’. Thus, the majority of the studies have been carried out in the education and the health sector, but only a few in the discipline of librarianship. A few studies, such as those of Jain (1998, 2005), attempted to study motivation in public libraries but the studies were not in depth as they did not totally focus on factors of motivation. Hence, this study aimed to fill the gap that exists in the current literature. The study explored factors of motivation in public libraries at an indepth level. The study is relevant as there is need for public library managers to be aware of the factors that motivate or demotivate public librarians. Good motivation will lead to staff morale and improved customer service and productivity.