The prevalence of occupational burnout among librarians in three African countries

Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted among librarians from Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa to establish the prevalence of occupational burnout in the library set up. A previously validated self-administered questionnaire [Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)] was used to collect information on the prevalence and pattern of job burnout among the respondents. The occurrence of extreme burnout among the respondents, especially those working in the Electronic and Reference Services area of their libraries was found. The findings of this research calls for both professional and personal avenues to deal with or lessen this menace as it is a difficult issue that affects the wellbeing of library staff, which can thwart libraries from accomplishing their points.