Work–life balance among nocturnal librarians in an urban Nigerian city: A qualitative study of academic libraries in port Harcourt

In today’s work environments, work-life balance has grown in importance, especially for those with irregular schedules. The work-life balance experiences of librarians working afternoon and night shifts in a few academic libraries in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, were examined in this study. The study addressed lack of scholarly focus on librarians who work night shifts in urban environments that are marked by flooding, traffic jams, transportation unreliability, insecurity, and other socio-environmental stressors. The study used a qualitative design within a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm, guided by the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model. Semi-structured interviews with purposefully chosen library staff members (8) from three Port Harcourt university libraries, the University of Port Harcourt, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, and Rivers State University, were used to gather data. These interviews were complemented by confirmatory follow-up interactions. Thematic analysis was done on the data, and the results show that although participants thought the university environment was generally safe during working hours, they had significant anxiety and stress due to late-night commuting, urban insecurity, transportation challenges, long travel distances, bad weather, and the removal or lack of shift-related financial incentives. While some respondents viewed advance notice and rotational scheduling as coping strategies, others characterised night duty as physically, emotionally, and financially taxing. The study comes to the conclusion that the interplay of institutional support systems, environmental vulnerabilities, and occupational demands shapes the work-life balance of nocturnal librarians in metropolitan university contexts. In order to promote healthier and more sustainable working circumstances for library employees working non-traditional shifts, it suggests specific policy changes, such as transportation assistance, staff housing choices, the reinstatement of shift allowances, and more responsive welfare and safety measures.