Abstract
Occupational burnout and employee turnover have emerged as critical challenges for public libraries, which are increasingly tasked with addressing complex societal needs with limited resources. This study investigates the systemic, organizational factors influencing librarian burnout and retention intentions using a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Based on a survey of 342 public librarians in North America, we evaluated the relationships among four key organizational antecedents—workload, leadership support, role clarity, and professional development opportunities—and their subsequent impacts on burnout and retention. The measurement and structural models were validated using confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. The results indicate that workload significantly increases burnout, while leadership support and role clarity serve as powerful mitigators. Furthermore, burnout was found to be a strong negative predictor of retention intention, partially mediating the effects of workload, role clarity, and leadership support. Notably, professional development opportunities demonstrated a direct positive relationship with retention intention, bypassing the burnout pathway. These findings shift the conversation from individual coping strategies to structural, organizational interventions, offering library administrators an empirical framework for designing healthier, more sustainable library workplaces.
