A Comparative Analysis of Romanian Librarians’ Perceptionof their Working Environment

Work environment factors are influencing employees performance, and thus directly affecting the organization’s efficiency. The objective of this paper is to draw a general image regarding the way in which employees from school, county, and university libraries perceive tangible (furniture, work equipment) and intangible (security, temperature, silence, air quality) elements from their work environments in order to emphasize the main issues librarians are facing. The novelty of this research stems from the application of the strategic comparative management’s principles in order to collate the work environment perceptions of the three aforementioned libraries. The research method was sociological inquiry, based on a survey, implemented through a questionnaire, which was addressed nationwide to school, county, and university library employees, helping us identify attitudes towards the work environment. In general, librarians seem to be content with their work environment conditions, and they feel safe. There are significant differences within employee attitudes towards work environment factors. The most satisfied were school librarians, because they interact with fewer users and work in a smaller environment.