| To investigate the leading predictors of librarian turnover intentions in public university libraries, an online survey was developed and administered to 300 librarians nationwide. This replication study tested the leading causes of turnover from of Cotton and Tuttle's (1986) meta-analysis and from Allison and Sartori (1988) study of turnover in the university library. From the Cotton and Tuttle's meta-analysis, the following seven independents variables were investigated: employment perceptions, overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work itself, pay, gender, number of dependents, and longevity. The three independent variables investigated from Allison and Sartori's study include future salary prospects, career goals outside the field of librarianship, and career goals within librarianship but outside academic libraries. The two dependent variables were intentions to leave for another library position and intentions to leave the library profession.; Pearson correlations and multiple regressions were used to test the study's hypotheses. The overall findings revealed that career goals outside of the field of librarianship and satisfaction with the work itself are the most consistent predictors of intentions to leave the profession. Overall job satisfaction, satisfaction with the work itself, future salary prospects and career goals within librarianship but outside academic librarianship are the most consistent predictors of intentions to leave stay within librarianship. This study generally extends the external validity of Allison and Sartori's research. In turn, two of Cotton and Tuttle's leading turnover predictors---satisfaction with the work itself and overall job satisfaction---demonstrates any consistency in predicting turnover intentions in academic libraries. The results of this study not only extend the research dealing with librarian turnover, they provide university library administrators with the information they need to reduce turnover intentions in their own libraries. |
