Job satisfaction and motivational strategies among library directors

Abstract

In cooperation with the Danish Union of Librarians in 2001 a comprehensive survey of Danish library directors was conducted. There is a growing societal concern about management and leadership qualities and it is evident that leadership attributes are becoming increasingly important in the information sector. The survey focuses on a whole array of topics connected with leadership qualities and perceptions of different future challenges. In this paper the focus is on job satisfaction among library directors. Job satisfaction is a central topic for motivational theories and some of the more major of these are evaluated in relation to our findings. The analysis correlates job satisfaction with a number of both extrinsic and intrinsic factors and the existence of major differences between these factors and levels of job satisfaction among the library directors is found. Some of these factors appear to be connected with the level of activity in the library. The context of the paper is the problems of recruiting the right kind of staff. Included in the context is the need to create attractive workplaces.