INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 1 INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D Cyprian I. Ugwu Abstract The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of personal characteristics of librarians on their job satisfactions in University Libraries in Nigeria. The personal characteristics consisted of age, gender and working experience. Survey research design was employed to investigate the influence of these variables on job satisfactions of a sample of 458 Librarians from 31 University libraries in Nigeria. Questionnaire was the main instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire was adapted from the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaires. Descriptive Statistics and ANOVA were used to analyze the data collected for this study. The findings revealed that the job satisfaction of older librarians was higher than that of the younger ones. It was also found that while gender was not a significant factor, work experience influences job satisfaction of librarians. Recommendations were also made based on these findings. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Working Experience, University Libraries Nigeria. Introduction Management of university library personnel is of paramount importance. To realize the library’s unique function of serving as the one unbiased, non-partisan bureau of information for the people, personnel of the highest competence and integrity are essential. This calls for proper management of university library personnel with a sense of purpose, focus, and direction. To increase efficiency, improve job satisfaction, and raise the employee morale, it is essential that an employee is viewed as a physiological, sociological, psychological and an egoistic creature. People brings to the workplace, a crystallized and complex set of cognition, personal feelings, desires, perceptions, and motives. Thus, one is concerned with matters such as security, relations with fellow workers, status, roles and personal needs. However, when an individual’s is unsettled about these, his/her efficiency INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 2 will be impeded. A person whose various dimensions are harmoniously attuned will be more effective in his/her working environment. In fact, the workplace environment should provide a meaningful, satisfying, and challenging atmosphere which will unleash human potential within every individual. From the literature, it would appear that motivation is related to job satisfaction in such a way that one can hardly be explained without reference to the other. This idea is supported by Ustun (2002) who opined that job satisfaction is a good measure of motivation in the workplace and that if a person is satisfied with his/her job, the desire to succeed in the job will increase accordingly. Drucker (2002) also asserts that happy workers are efficient and productive workers. One can then infer that if librarians in Nigerian universities are happy and satisfied, they will be productive in their work. Eneasato [1990] interpret job satisfaction as the totality of an individual psychological, social and physical well -being with regard to his work and job performance. This is an agreement with an earlier view by Ajayi [1981] that job satisfaction is the pleasurable and positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job experience. For the purpose of this study, it will be seen as the totality of feelings and dispositions of a person has towards his job. Though there are studies on the relationship between job satisfaction and librarianship, contradictory report seem to emerge from the literature on such demographic variables as age, gender, sex, work experience and occupational level (Cark and Osweld, 1996). The present study, therefore, intends to investigate the influence of age, gender and working experience on librariansjob satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Research Questions The following research question were formulated to guide the study;  What is the level of job satisfaction of librarians in university libraries in Nigeria?  What is the influence of age on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria?  What is the influence of gender on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria? INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 3  What is the influence of working experience on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria? Hypothesis The following hypotheses stated in null from were tested at 0.05 level of significance.  Age does not significantly influence librarian’s job satisfaction in University libraries in Nigeria  Job satisfaction of librarians in University libraries in Nigeria will not be significantly influenced by gender  Years of working experience does not significantly influence job satisfaction of librarians in University libraries in Nigeria. Literature Review Job satisfaction has been defined as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job; an effective obsession to one’s job. Adeyemo (2006) gives a comprehensive definition of job satisfaction as pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience. Job satisfaction is a result of employee’s perception of how well their job pervade those things that are viewed as important. According to Oshagbemi (2006), it is generally recognized in the organizational behavior field that job satisfaction is the most important and adequately studies attitude. While Hamsari (2006) posited that there are three important dimensions to job satisfaction:  Job satisfaction is an emotional response to a job response situation  Job satisfaction is often determined by how well outcome meet or exceed expectations. For instance, if organization participants feel that they are working much harder than others in the department but are receiving fewer rewards they will probably have a negative attitudes towards the work, the boss and or co-workers on the other hand, if they feel they are being treated very well and are being paid equitably, they are likely to have positive attitudes towards the job. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 4  Job satisfaction represents several related attitudes, which are most important characteristics of a job about which people have effective response. The concept of job-satisfaction, has been presenting problems of definition. Ejiogu in Enesato (2006) agrees to this when he noted that “there is yet to emerge a universally accepted definition of job satisfaction”. According to Eneasato, however, early attempts were made by scholars like Hoppock (1995). He pointed out that “job satisfaction was then seen as a unilateral construct reflecting a generalized affective orientation to all aspects of the work situation”. According to Spector (2005) job satisfaction is “an emotional affective responses to a job, or specific aspects of a job satisfaction is assumed to represent a cluster of evaluative feelings about a job”. Job satisfaction can thus be described in terms of employee’s general feelings and reactions in relation to his positive appreciation of circumstances surrounding his job. Chidebelu (2004), on the other hand, saw job satisfaction as a multifaceted construct, which involves satisfaction with the various aspects of a work situation, that the degree of job satisfaction is determine by the degree to which the job fulfills or allow the fulfillment of the individual need. In other words for one to be satisfied with his job, he has to be satisfied with the various aspects of his work situation such as the pay, promotion, among others, that the degree of one’s job satisfaction could be determined by the degree of one’s job fulfills his needs. The degree could be high, low or moderate. The need could be self-actualization, or esteem, social or safety need. On the other hand Thornton (2000) defined job satisfaction as the totality of an individual’s social and psychological well-being relative to his job and job performance. Such social and psychological well-being presupposes the inclusion of such factors as interpersonal relations, pay, fringe benefits, promotion, decision- making procedure and channels of communication. A critical look at these definitions and explanations of job satisfaction indicates that they all have one thing in common. This common factor is their recognition that job satisfaction is contingent upon fulfillment of individual needs on the job. That is the extent to which personal needs and the individual while performing the task realizes wants. The definitions also recognize the fact that an individuals expression of job satisfaction is an emotional affective personal response, as a result of his INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 5 estimation of the degree to which some facet of job reality are congruent or incongruent with his job values. If the individuals social psychological well -being in relation to his job is not good, it could affect the degree of his satisfaction with his job. From the above concepts of job satisfaction, one could summarize it as the sum total of a person’s feeling as to the extent to which his needs, aspirations and values have been met in his job. It is a personal evaluation of conditions existing on the job such as achievement, promotion, supervision and interpersonal relationship, working condition, salaries and benefits among others. Another line of satisfaction research has attempted to identify certain types of people who tend to be more satisfied than others. Research on these personal or demographic characteristics typically involves comparing job satisfaction ratings for differentsamples., such as gender, working experience, occupation etc. a survey of available literature shows that there are a lot of personal characteristics of an individual, which are often chosen by researchers to study their relationships with job satisfaction. Librarians’ job satisfaction has been the focus of numerous empirical investigations. Librarians in Nigeria have reported research on job satisfaction with regard to age, gender and working experience. Badawo (2006) investigated the levels of job satisfaction of female librarians in Nigeria using Herzberg’s Hygiene/motivator factors of job satisfaction. The study employed the ex-post facto design. A total number of 228 randomly selected female librarians from 35 libraries drawn from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria constituted the sample. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data collected. The result of study showed that female librarians in Nigeria are very satisfied with achievement, interpersonal relationship, recognition, growth/ advancement, work itself, salary, personal life and job security. They were dissatisfied with supervision responsibility and working condition, policy and administration. The study revealed the need for a new approach to librarianship in Nigeria by considering the human side of the profession. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 6 Another study was carried out by Nzotta (1985) on the factors associated with job satisfaction of male and female librarians in Nigeria. Using a descriptive survey design, the researcher employed the questionnaire and interview methods to collect relevant data which was analyzed using quantitative and qualitative statistics. From the analyses, it was found that women derived greater job satisfaction from their work than their male counterparts. Women were more satisfied with independence, security, ability utilization and working conditions. On the other hand, men were satisfied with variety. In his contributions, Chwe (1997) carried out a study on job satisfaction among University library Cataloguers in Nigeria. The study was aimed at ascertaining the status and the level of job satisfaction among University library Cataloguers in Nigeria. It also aimed at determining the influence of variables such as age, sex, and marital status, length of service as a professional librarian. The findings reveal that most University library cataloguers in Nigeria are dissatisfied with their jobs. Also none of the four variables, that is age, sex, marital status and length of service as professional librarians is significantly correlated with cataloguers overall job satisfaction. In another study, Clark and Osweld (1996) investigated whether job satisfaction is U-shaped in age. The study reveals that overall job satisfaction is u- shaped in relation to age and that job satisfaction declines on average until the age of approximately thirty-one year and rises thereafter, Research Methods The research design used in this study is Survey research design. This study was carried out in the university libraries in Nigeria. These libraries are situated in all the six geo-political zones of the federation namely: North East; North Central; North East; South East; South- South and South West. The population of this study consisted of all librarians in the 25 Federal and 26 State University in Nigeria. They are estimated to be 685 in number, a sample of 458 librarians representing 80% of the population of librarians in Federal and State Universities in Nigeria was used for this study. It is the view of the researcher that using 80% as sample is adequate enough to generalize the findings to the entire population. Furthermore, the sample size is closer to the total population, in arriving at this sample size, 25 universities representing 60% of the 25 federal INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 7 universities and 16 universities representing 60% of the 26 state universities were randomly sampled using proportionate stratified random sampling. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire adapted from the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (1977) to reflect local conditions and job peculiar to library in Nigeria. 50 items were adapted from slightly modified version of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) (1977). Respondents were requested to check their Reponses placed on five-point Likert rating scale. The data obtained from the instrument were analyzed using the appropriate statistics to answer the research questions and to test the hypotheses. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings and Discussion The findings of the study are discussed under specific headings covering all the research issues of this study. 458 rrquestionnaires were distributed and retrieved by the researchers; only 330 were found useable and therefore analyzed. Level of Job Satisfaction of Librarians in University Libraries in Nigeria The levels of job satisfaction of Librarian in University Libraries in Nigeria are shown in table 1 below. Table 1: Frequency and percentages of librarians that exhibit each of the levels of job satisfaction in University libraries in Nigeria. Levels No. of Respondents Percentage (%) Very High (80-100) 71 21.5% High (60-79) 178 53.9% Moderate (40-59) 71 21.5% Low (20-39) 10 3.0% Very low (0-19) 0 0.0% Table 1 shows the frequency and percentages of librarians that exhibit each of the levels (very high, high, moderate, low, and very low) of job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Majority, 178 librarians exhibited high level job INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 8 satisfaction, representing 53.9%. This is followed by very high and moderate levels of job satisfaction, which recorded 71 librarians exhibiting each of the levels. This translates to 21.5% for each of these levels. Only 10 librarians exhibited low level of job satisfaction, representing 3.0%. However, none of the librarians exhibited very low level of job satisfactions. The above result show that majority of the librarians studied are satisfied on their job. However, few are very highly satisfied on the job. Influence of Age on Job Satisfaction of Librarians in University Libraries in Nigeria The differences in the job satisfaction of Librarians according to their ages are shown in the table below; Table 2: Mean and Standard deviation of the response of librarians on job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria across their ages. Age (Years) N Means Std. Deviation 20-29 16 3.5515 0.949 30-39 80 3.2625 0.651 40-49 126 3.451 0.7925 50-59 83 3.381 0.6925 60-65 25 3.8515 0.6465 Total 330 3.424 0.7119 Table 2 shows the mean and standard deviation of the responses of librarians on the job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria across their ages. The mean of the job satisfaction of the librarians within the age bracket 60-65 years is the highest, which is 3.8515. This is closely followed by those within the age bracket 20-29 years, with mean of 3.5515. The librarians in the age bracket 40-49 years have the mean of 3.451, while those in the age bracket 50-59 years have the mean of 3.381. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 9 Finally, the librarians in the age bracket 30-39 years have the mean of 3.2625, which is the least of all the means. The age may therefore be said to be responsible for the difference in the job satisfaction of various age groups of university librarians. The testing of the hypothesis on the influence of age on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria is presented as shown in table below. Table 3 Summary of ANOVA table for the age influence on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Sources Sum of square Df Mean square F Sig. Between groups 2898.84 4 724.71 3.69 .006 Within groups 63800.57 325 196.31 Total 66699.41 329 Table 3 shows the summary of ANOVA for the influence of age on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. The results indicated that there is significant influence of ages among the librarians on job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. This is because the significance level obtained (0.006) is less than the significance level (0.05) the hypothesis was formulated. Since there are more than two age groups, there is a need to perform Post Hoc Test to know where the significance lies. Table 4: Post Hoc tests for the age influence on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. (I) Age (J) Age Mean Difference (IJ) Std. Error Sig. 30-39 20-29 -6.156 3.837 .632 40-49 -3.771 2.003 .472 INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 10 50-59 -2.370 2.195 .883 60-69 -11.783 (*) 3.210 .010 60-69 20-29 5.627 4.486 .813 30-39 11.783 (*) 3.210 .010 40-49 8.012 3.068 .148 50-59 9.413 3.196 0.72 Table 4 shows that the significant influence exists only between the age brackets (30-39) years and (60-69) years, with the mean difference of (-11.783). This is because the significant level set by the computer (0.010) is less than the significance level (0.05) set for the hypothesis. Influence of Gender on Job Satisfaction of Librarians in University Libraries in Nigeria. The differences in the job satisfaction of librarians by gender are shown in table 3 below: Table 5: Mean and standard deviation of the response of male and female librarians’ to job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Male 178 3.5115 0.68545 Female 152 3.321 0.73065 Total 330 3.424 0.7119 Table 5 shows the mean and standard deviation of the response of male and female librarians to job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. The mean of job satisfaction of male librarians is 3.5115, while the mean of female librarians is 3.321. This means that there is a difference in the job satisfaction of librarians by sex. The testing of the hypothesis on the influence of gender on the job satisfaction of librarians is shown in the table below. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 11 Table 6: Mean, standard deviation and t for gender influence on librarian’s job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Df t Sig. (2 tailed) Male 178 70.23 13.709 328 2.444 .015 Female 152 66.42 14.613 From the result in table 6, the (t=2.44) is significant. This is because the t obtained (0.02) is less than (0.05) set for the hypothesis. Gender therefore has a significant influence on libraries job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Influence of Working Experience on Job Satisfaction of Librarians in University Libraries in Nigeria. The differences in the job satisfaction on Librarians by work experience are shown in the table below: Table 7: Mean and standard deviation of the response of librarians on job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria across the years of experience. Experience N Mean Std. Deviation 1-10 years 141 3.312 0.7785 11-20 years 77 3.4355 0.653 21-30 years 69 3.483 0.623 31-35 years 43 3.6715 0.665 Total 330 3.424 0.713 Table 7 shows the mean and standard deviation of the response of librarian on job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria across the years of experience. The librarians within the 31-35 years of work experience have the highest mean of 3.6715. This is followed by that of the librarians within the 21-30 years of work experience, with mean of 3.483. The librarians within the 11-20 years of work experience have the mean of 3.4355.while those within the 1-10years have mean of INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 12 3.312.From these results, the more the working experience the greater the mean. This means that the mean of job satisfaction of librarians varies directly with their years of experience. This also shows that there are differences in the job satisfaction of librarians by work experience. The table below displays the results generated from the data analysis for testing the above hypothesis on the influence of working experience on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Table 8: Summary of ANOVA table working experience influence on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. Sources Sum of squares Df Mean square F Sig. Between groups 1849.843 3 616.614 3.100 .027 Within groups 64849.570 326 198.925 Total 66699.413 329 The result in table 8 indicated that there is significant influence of working experience on librarians’ job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. This is because the level of significance set by the computer (0.027) is less than the significance level of 0.05 set for the hypothesis. Since there are more than two working experience groups, there is a need to perform Post Hoc Test to know where the significance lies. Table 9: Post Hoc Tests for working experience influence on librarians job satisfaction in university libraries in Nigeria. (I) Experience (J) Experience Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig. 1-10 years 11-20 years -2.453 1.999 .681 INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 13 21-30 years -3.403 2.072 .442 31-35 years -7.171 (*) 2.457 .038 31-35 years 1-10 years 7.171 (*) 2.457 .038 11-20 years 4.718 2.685 .380 21-30 years 3.768 2.740 .596 Table 9 shows that the significance influence exists only between the working experience brackets (1-10) years and (31-35) years, with the mean difference of (7.171). This is because the level of significance set by the computer (0.038) is less than the level of significance level (0.05) set for the hypothesis. The result of the analyzed data shows that the majority of librarians (188 or 54%) indicated high level of job satisfaction, whereas (71 or 21.5%) and (71 or 21.5%) respectively indicated very high and low levels of job satisfaction by these librarians. By implication therefore, the librarians in university libraries in Nigeria exhibit average level of job satisfaction. It is neither very high, neither is it very low. This goes to show that though these librarians are not entirely not satisfied, yet there is the need to improve their present condition of service and work environment. In line with Locke in Sempane and Rieger (2002), there are dimensions that have been established to contribute significantly to employees’ job satisfaction. These include work itself, pay, promotions, recognition, working conditions, benefits, supervision and co-workers. This is postulated to influence employees opinion of “how interesting the work is, how routine, how well they are doing, and in general, how much they enjoy doing it”. It is therefore becomes imperative to assert that the enhancement of these dimensions in university libraries in Nigeria could really enhance job performance and work flow. The result of the analyzed data shows librarians within the age bracket of 60-65 years reported the highest level of satisfaction with a mean score of 77.03. They were found to be highly satisfied with the job variable under review. This group was followed by librarians within the age bracket of 20-29 years with a mean score of 71.41. However, these librarians of the middle ages 30-39 years (mean score of INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 14 65.25) reported the lowest level of satisfaction having indicated the lowest level of satisfaction in terms of the job variables. The data as reported therefore, suggest that age tends to influence the level of satisfaction attained. Satisfaction is higher for older librarians between the ages of 60-65 years. This finding is quite consistent with the research findings of Daris and Kosa in Tella (2007) who established and found a meaningful relationship between age and job satisfaction. These two studies showed that the older workers are more satisfied than the younger ones. A possible explanation to this is that librarians at this age are already in management positionsand are not likely to change job while those in the age bracket of 30-39 years reported the lowest level of satisfaction could be said to be experiencing the raw deal of their work environment coupled with those of their senior colleagues. Again, it can be seen that for the fact that they are in the mobility age, they are better and quicker to compare their present work environment with other work environments which they desire and work hard to be part of. The result of the study shows that male librarians showed a high level of job satisfaction than their female counterparts. This result tends to contradict Nzotta’s(1985) study on the factors associated with job satisfaction of male and female librarians in Nigeria. In that study, it was established that women derived greater job satisfaction from their work than their female counterparts as regards independence, security, ability, utilization and working conditions of modern librarianship in Nigeria since 1985. It is obvious that the field of academic librarianship in Nigeria has greatly changed since 1985 in terms of more government funding, status of librarians, and employment of more males in university libraries. These factors could explain the discrepancy between the study of Nzotta(1985) and the present study. Still the differences are not significant enough to show a wide gap. It all goes to show that the same procedure and condition applies to all librarians irrespective of their sex or gender. The analysis of data indicates that the higher the working experience, the more satisfaction the libraries derive from their job. It then follows that for one to stay put in a job for so long, would confirm the value of the job and at the same time would moderate the satisfaction of the worker. It goes to show the acquaintance, INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 15 adaptation and convenience of the worker unlike the worker with shorter working experience. Conclusion and Recommendations Job satisfaction among older librarians was higher than the younger ones. It goes to show that the older one becomes as a librarians, the less the distraction from socio- economic factors.Hence, the job satisfaction of older librarians as against the younger librarians. There is no significant difference between the job satisfaction levels of male and female librarians. Based on this finding, it becomes necessary to treat all librarians equally as there is no rationale for discrimination based on gender in policy issues of job satisfaction in University libraries in Nigeria. Evidently, the experience one gathers during work over years is bound to help the librarian overcome associated challenges in future. With this victory over challenges, job satisfaction is evident. The following recommendations have been made in line with the findings.  The high level of satisfaction showed by the findings should be sustained through training and re-training programmes for these librarians especially as it relates to re- tooling them to effectively utilize new tools and innovations or policies in their workplace.  It is also imperative that library managers should look inwards and come out with policies to encourage younger librarians and as the same time re-focus their minds and skills to the nitty-gritty of their profession. This is expected to remove bias, distraction and prejudice in the work and service associated with the librarianship profession.  The library administration should formulate ways of utilizing mentoring of younger librarians by both older and more accomplished librarians from within their libraries or outside these libraries to inspire and spur our younger librarians on their job performance.  Library management should improve the job skills of librarians through conferences, seminars and workshops, which enable librarians to acquire the knowledge and skills required in the integration of information technology into the library. References AdeyemoD.A(2000). Job involvement Career commitment, Organizational INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 16 commitment and Job satisfaction of the Nigerian Police. A multiple regression analysis.Journal of Advanced Studies in Educational Management 5(6),35-4 I Ajayi, 5.1. (1981). Job Satisfaction and Commitment among Nigeria University Teachers, unpublished Ph.D Thesis. Department of Educational Management. Ibadan. Badawo,G (2006). Factors affecting the Levels of job Satisfaction of Female Librarians in Nigeria; A test of Herzberg‘s Hygiene/Motivator Factors. Samaru Journal of information Studies 6(1); 6-12 Chidebelu, F.C (2004). A Comparative Study of Job Satisfaction of Librarians in Academic Libraries in Enugu and Anambra States of Nigeria.Unpublished MLS thesis.University of Nigeria Nsukka. Chwe, S. (1997). A Comparative study of job satisfaction: Cataloguers and Reference Librarians in University Libraries. Journal of AcademicLibrarianship4: 139-143. Clark, A and Osweld, A(1996). Is Job Satisfaction U-shaped in age? Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 6:57-81 Drucker, P.F. (2002).The Practice of Management. London: Heinemann. Gruneberg, M.M. (2007). Job Satisfaction:A Reader. London: Macmillian. Hamshari, O.A. (2006). Job Satisfaction of professional Librarians: A comparative study of technical and public service Departments in Academic libraries in Jordan: Dissertation Abstracts International 46:31 79A. Herzberg, F., Mauser,B ,and Snyderman,G (1959). The Motivation to work. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Hoppock, R. (1995). Job Satisfaction. New York: Haper and Row. Nzotta, B. (1985). Factors associated with Job Satisfaction of male and female librarians in Nigeria. Library and Information Science Research 7(1)75-84. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 17 Nzotta, B. (1987). A comparative study of the Job Satisfaction of Nigerian Librarians.International Library Review. 19, 161-173. Oshagbemi, T. (2000). How satisfied are academics with their primary task of teaching research and administration and management. Sustainable Higher Education 1(2): 124-136. Sempane, M and Rieger, H (2002). Job satisfaction in relation to organizational Culture.South Africanjournal of industrial Pschology28 (2), 20-30 Spector, P E. (2007).Job satisfaction: Application, assessment, causes and consequences. CA: Sage publications, Inc Tella, A and Popoola (2007). Work Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment of Library Personnel inAcademic and Research libraries in Oyo State.Library philosophy and Practice. Available at :(fule://E:\johmotivationandsatisfaction.htm -(accessed on November 12, 2007). Thornton, J.K. (2000). Job Satisfaction of Libraries of African Descent Employed in ARL Academic Libraries. College and Research Libraries vol.85: 217- 232. Ustun, A (2002).Job Satisfaction in Information Centres: a comparative study in Instanbul.Library Progress International, 22 (1) p23. Justina N. EkerePh.D is a Senior Librarian at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cyprian I. Ugwu is a Principal Librarian at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. INFLUENCE OF AGE, GENDER AND WORKING EXPERIENCE ON LIBRARIANS’ JOB SATISFACTION IN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN NIGERIA Justina N. Ekere Ph.D and Cyprian I. Ugwu Page 18