Librarians’ social skills and workplace well-being in university libraries in selected states in South-South, Nigeria

This study examined librarians’ social skills and workplace well-being in university libraries is selected states in South-South, Nigeria. Specifically, the study aimed to determine the extent of social skills among librarians, assess the extent of workplace well-being among librarians, and investigate the relationship between social skills and workplace well-being in university libraries. The study employed a correlational research design to explore the relationship between the variables without manipulation. The population consisted of 223 librarians from federal, state, and private universities in Bayelsa, Delta, and Edo States, selected using a total enumeration sampling technique. Data were collected using the “Librarians' Social Skills and Workplace Well-being in University Libraries Questionnaire (LSSS-WWULQ)”. The data were collected over one month with the assistance of five trained research assistants. Data were analyzed using mean, standard and Pearson’s Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient. Findings revealed a grand mean for social skills as 4.58 (SD = 1.76), indicating that the librarians perceive themselves as having social skills to a large extent. The grand mean for workplace well-being was 4.25 (SD = 1.90), showing that librarians perceive their workplace well-being to a moderate extent. A very strong positive correlation (r = 0.990) was found between social skills and workplace well-being, with social skills accounting for approximately 97.9% of the variance in workplace well-being (R² = 0.979, p < 0.05). The study concluded that improving librarians’ social skills will significantly enhance their workplace well-being. It was recommended that library management should prioritize training programmes that develop social and communication skills and create socially supportive environments to promote well-being among the librarians.