Investigating the Quality of Work Life Experienced by Public Librarians in the libraries of Tehran

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the Quality of Work Life (QWL) level, and the differences in QWL level among public librarians affiliated to two main organizations: the Art and Cultural Organization of Tehran Municipality and the Iran Public Libraries Foundation in Tehran. For the purpose of data collection, 226 public librarians were surveyed via an online questionnaire. However, data was analyzed by SPSS 16 as a means of reporting the results. The Walton’s QWL questionnaire was specifically constructed and standardized by the investigators for data gathering. The level of QWL among public librarians is relatively high. Significant difference in the mean scores of QWL’s four dimensions was found to exist between the librarians of two organizations. This finding probably relates to the management system of these two organizations. A significant difference in mean QWL scores was noticed amongst the groups of librarians categorized on the basis of their educational backgrounds. Thus, maybe the policy-makers should try to employ those librarians who graduated from LIS programs.Originality/Value: This is one of the first studies to provide evidence of the level of QWL within an executive librarian population. The study provides information which enables comparisons between two authorized organizations. Additionally, it provides evidence of the relationship between demographic characteristics and QWL.