Full Length Research Ergonomic Computer Workstation considerations for library Staff *Asaolu, Aderonke Olufunke and Itsekor, Victoria Centre for Learning Resources, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. *Corresponding author’s E-mail: aderonke.asaolu@covenantuniversity.edu.ng E-mail: victoria.itsekor@covenantuniversity.edu.ng Accepted 9 April 2014 Library staff requires sound health to be maximally productive at work. This is because they sit for long hours carrying out their daily routines, and as such every workstation should be designed with both the worker and the task in mind so that work can be performed comfortably, smoothly and efficiently. 60% of respondents agreed that properly designed computer workstation improves the standard of work in a library, as such preventing on-the-job injury or disease should be the priority of any organization, especially the library, since it is the hub of the institution. Key words: Ergonomics, Workstation, Occupational Hazards INTRODUCTION Working in a library can be demanding in terms of physical exertion and working with computers, mice, and monitors requires many of the same skills that successful athletes have. Potentially harmful situation that leads to back injury include prolonged static posture (for example a cataloguer keying in bibliographic details of library collections into the computer on a daily basis), use of chairs that are not ergonomically designed or sitting in an awkward position for a long period of time (for example, an acquisition librarian stooping over his table while generating acquisition list or making selection for library purchase), and library assistants that have to lift books consulted by library users on a daily basis. That is why sitting at a desk in an office chair, becomes uncomfortable after a short time, and if prolonged for extended periods of time tends to cause back pain. Holding the same position slowly diminishes elasticity in the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments and tendons) in the back. Then, stress builds up and causes back discomfort and / or leg discomfort. Furthermore, due to the sedentary nature of the job of library staff, a situation whereby they sit for hours generating bibliographical details for the library catalogue, either electronically through the use of computers or manually, and/or attending to library users can lead to cramp or stiffness of some body parts. This was affirmed by Selby and Triano (2006), when they stated that a healthy body can only tolerate staying in one position for about 20 minutes. Library staff require sound health to be maximally productive at work because running a library has always involved repetitive tasks that expose employees’ backs necks, hands, and arms to injury. When workers that are at a high risk for injury on the job are mentioned, library workers are not likely to be thought of. Yet library workers and anyone who works extensively with computers should consider their machines as potential occupational hazards. Preventing on-the-job injury or disease should be the priority of any organization, especially the library, since it is the hub of the institution. The need to ensure that the workstation is suitable for the library staff becomes inevitable. For the purpose of this study, a workstation is defined as a computer workstation is an International Journal of Academic Library and Information Science Vol. 2(3), pp. 22-26, April 2014 DOI: 10.14662/IJALIS2014.005 Copy © right 2014 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article ISSN: 2360-7858©2014 Academic Research Journals http://www.academicresearchjournals.org/IJALIS/Index.htm