Job Satisfaction of Canadian University Librarians: A National Survey

This study investigates the job satisfaction of Canadian university librarians, using a replication of a 1993 American study to facilitate international comparisons.1 It explores the relationships between faculty/academic status, administration, and the participation of librarians in library planning and decision-making, university affairs, and professional activities. A survey was sent to all university librarians in Canada, resulting in 738 usable responses. Data analysis concentrated on comparisons between faculty- and non-faculty-status librarians, and administrative and nonadministrative librarians. Although faculty-/academic-status librarians were significantly more satisfied with their involvement in university affairs and promotion and tenure processes, they were not more satisfied with other dimensions of their work, such as workload and salary. Administrative librarians, on the other hand, were significantly more satisfied with most of the major aspects of work being measured, and perceived themselves to be much more involved in library planning and university affairs than did nonadministrative librarians.