The Status of College Librarians

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to find out why college librarians in Tanzania were accorded low status and how this impacted on their job performance and satisfaction. In particular, the study sought to determine the role of college librarians in Tanzania and, consequently, the factors leading to low status of these librarians in higher education institutions. Further, the study aimed at identifying factors that might enhance the status of those librarians so that they could be recognised as occupying the rightful place in academic institutions. The key variables in this study were 'low status of college librarians' as a dependent variable, and 'education', 'role', 'categorisation of academic librarians', 'accreditation', 'marginalisation' and the 'Tanzania Library Association' as independent variables. 'Low status' was measured by way of facts which were revealed by respondents in accordance with the questions or indicators listed in the measuring instruments. Such facts included: low pay, exclusion from certain decision-making organs, minimal budget allocation for library development, etc. 'Education' was measured by noting each staff's educational and professional qualifications. The nominal, interval and ration scales were used and, in rare occasions, the ordinal scale was used. A questionnaire was used for measuring views of administrative, faculty and library personnel as well as students. Indeed, this research relied considerably upon multiple sources of information. The study was conducted at three colleges — Institute of Development Management, Mzumbe in Morogoro, Institute of Finance Management in Dar es Salaam, and Co-operative College Moshi in Kilimanjaro. These institutions were chosen because they were all Grade B academic institutions offering courses at Advanced Diploma and Master's professional qualifications. The institutions were considered representative of the then existing colleges in Tanzania. The research was conducted during the month of January through March 2001. Prior to the main survey, a pre-test of the instruments was conducted at the University of Dar es Salaam involving M.A students and staff. Findings from the pilot study became the basis for revising the research instruments.