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Annotated Bibliography

John Pickens

MLIS, University of South Florida

LIS 6409: Intro to Library Administration

Dr. Barbara Stites

September 27, 2023

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Employee Motivation: Annotated Bibliography

Alajmi, B., & Alasousi, H. (2019). Understanding and motivating academic library employees:

theoretical implications. [Motivating academic library employees] Library

Management, 40(3), 203-214. https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-10-2017-0111

This peer reviewed study surveyed one hundred and eight library employees at eight

college libraries from Kuwait University to examine the levels of motivation and needs

fulfilment of the employees. The study used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a framework

for its findings, using the categories of; physiological needs, security needs, social needs,

self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. The results of the study are not congruent

with Maslow’s theory. The study found that self-actualization needs, rather than basic

physical necessities are the greatest factor driving employee motivation.

Castiglione, J. (2008). Facilitating employee creativity in the library environment: An important

managerial concern for library administrators. Library Management, 29(3), 159-172.

https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120810855296

This peer reviewed paper argues that library administrators should foster an environment

conducive to employee participation, as an intrinsically motivated and creative staff is

essential for the success of a library. Castiglione gathers literature related to employee

creativity from diverse fields such as psychology, philosophy, library science, and

business to formulate his thesis. The paper highlights tactics library administrators can

deploy to encourage creativity as well as pitfalls to avoid.

Gisela, v. D. (2005). Human resources and leadership strategies for libraries in

transition. Library Administration & Management, 19(4), 177.

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https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/human-resources-leadership-

strategies-libraries/docview/216637544/se-2

This article highlights several different styles of management as well as offers a history

of leadership theories. While the scope of the article is broader than the topic of

motivation, several of the highlighted theories do discuss how and why leaders can

motivate their employees. Like the Castiglione paper, this article utilizes literature from

sources beyond the field of library science.

Hamid, A., & Younus, M. (2021). Effect of work motivation on academic library professionals'

workplace productivity. Library Philosophy and Practice, 1-25.

https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/effect-work-motivation-on-academic-

library/docview/2557265227/se-2

This peer reviewed study surveyed library staff of universities in Punjab and Islamabad to

understand how motivation effects productivity of library professionals. Much like the

Alajimi et al. (2019) study, Hamid et al. (2021) used Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a

framework for its findings. The study found three things; library professionals are highly

motivated, work motivation significantly effects productivity, and various demographics

of library professionals perceive the effects of motivation on the success of their work

similarly.

Hussain, S., & Soroya, S. H. (2019). Factors affecting the motivation of library paraprofessional

staff working in university libraries of lahore: An appraisal. Pakistan Journal of

Information Management & Libraries, 21, 66-87. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-

journals/factors-affecting-motivation-library/docview/2433390331/se-2
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This peer reviewed study surveyed paraprofessionals employed at thirty-three academic

libraries in Lahore, Pakistan to gauge employee motivation. The results of the study were

unsurprising. The study found that higher paid employees were more motivated,

employees higher on the organization chart were more motivated, and permanent

employees were more motivated than temporary workers.

Lawson, P. C., & Frimpong, A. D. (2021). Employee motivation and job satisfaction in academic

libraries in ghana: A comparative study of sam jonah and osagyefo libraries. Library

Philosophy and Practice, 1-24. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/employee-

motivation-job-satisfaction-academic/docview/2506600433/se-2

This peer reviewed study surveyed 184 library staff of the Sam Jonah and Osagyefo

libraries in Ghana to discover how employee motivation and job satisfaction effects

productivity. Much like to Hussain et al. (2019) study, Lawson et al. (2021) found that

factors such as pay, position, and benefits are determining factors to job satisfaction.

Lawson et al. (2021) also found that motivation contributes to employee’s job

satisfaction, as opposed to job satisfaction effecting motivation.

Rowley, J. (1996). Motivation of staff in libraries. Library Management, 17(5), 31-35.

https://doi.org/10.1108/01435129610119610

This peer reviewed article argues that quality, culture, and motivation are essential within

a library in order for its staff to deliver a satisfactory service to their customers. Rowley

highlights the management philosophy of total quality management, or TQM, which is

suggested as an effective way to create quality culture. Rowley also details four models

of motivation: the rational-economic, the social, the self-actualizing and the complex
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model. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is discussed as part of the self-actualizing model,

which had also been analyzed in the Alajmi et al. (2019) and Hamid et al. (2021) studies.

Smith, S. D., & Galbraith, Q. (2012). Motivating millennials: Improving practices in recruiting,

retaining, and motivating younger library staff. The Journal of Academic

Librarianship, 38(3), 135–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2012.02.008

This peer reviewed article was written at a time when Millennials were beginning to enter

the work force and the library positions were prominently held by Baby Boomers. Smith

et al. (2012) argue that the multigenerational workplace creates unique challenges for

managers and that Millennials, in particular, have unique skills, priorities, and habits.

Smith et al (2012) combines information from a diverse set of scholarly articles and

studies to highlight was to successfully manage Millennial library workers.

Susan, N. U. (2018). Motivation and human resources in libraries. International Journal of

Knowledge Content Development & Technology, 8(3), 29-40.

https://doi.org/10.5865/IJKCT.2018.8.3.029

This peer reviewed article argues that employee motivation is crucial because it dictates

the behavior and performance of the employees, who are the most important aspect of the

library. The article discusses how human resources influences employee culture and

highlights several theories of motivation, including Maslow and Herzberg’s theories.

Susan outlines several tactics for motivating library staff, including job design, job

rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment.

Thomas, J. R., & Holley, R. P. (2012). Management versus repetitive tasks - avoiding "working

for the weekend": A crash course in motivating library staff faced with seemingly endless

tasks. New Library World, 113(9), 462-473. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074801211273939

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This peer reviewed article combines management literature with personal experience in

library management to suggest ways to motivate library staff who’s job functions include

repetitive tasks. The article discusses reasons for burnout as well as physical, behavioral,

and social symptoms of burnout. The paper advices how to motivate staff while

conducting repetitive tasks and suggests ways to eliminate and reduce unnecessary

repetitive tasks.