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.
