| Abstract |
Within business organizations, attention has been focused on their members’ quality of working life (QWL). The concept and application of QWL is a system of thought that stresses the humanizing and self-fulfilling potential of work. This approach considers the organization-wide role of the employee and the social system of the employee’s work place. The prime aim of the QWL programs is to make the total organization more effective, not solely to provide greater satisfaction to the workers. Therefore, research applications on the quality of working life are extensive in industrial and service settings. However, in the library sector it has not been the subject of widespread organization and management research. How do librarians view their quality of working life? What are the personal needs that librarians view as important? Are librarians able to satisfy these needs given the state of library support? How can we improve the quality of working life in our libraries? Relative little information has been published on these aspects of organizational life in the library. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of QWL to the library and information field. A review of the literature on QWL, both in industrial and library administration, is presented. In the library literature, the treatment of the QWL subject is still basically descriptive and normative. The author urges a more critical analysis through the use of empirical research methodologies.
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