Overcoming Employee Retention Barriers in Municipality Libraries in Gauteng Province for Sustainable Development: A Herculean Task

Municipality libraries face significant barriers such as a lack of legislative framework and political interference that impede the provision of library services for sustainable development. To overcome these barriers, it is imperative for public libraries to retain skilled librarians to enhance organisational performance. This study aimed to investigate barriers hindering the implementation of employee retention strategies and practices in the context of public libraries. An interview schedule was used to collect qualitative data from 13 purposively selected library managers. The data were analysed thematically. The findings revealed that administrative bureaucratic processes and red tape, political interference, a highly unionised environment, and non-competitive salary structures affect employee retention practices in the public library context. This study recommends that library leaders should develop a red tape reduction strategy and comply with staff regulations applicable to local government to thwart undue political interference and deprofessionalisation in the public library sector. This study further recommends that municipalities that do not have a retention policy must craft one within an approved legislative framework to retain skilled librarians and mitigate against the loss of tacit knowledge.