Taking Care of Yourself: Stress and the Librarian

Abstract

Stress is a part of our working lives and is not likely to decrease in tomorrow's workplace. A difficult economy, downsizing, taking on additional responsibilities without assistance or additional pay—all are taking their toll on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Community college librarians can often feel isolated as the only professional in the field, sometimes serving multiple campuses. They also share many of the same stressors as librarians in other settings: difficulty of keeping up with and maintaining fluency with new technologies in education, competing demands on their time with little or no staff support, rapidly changing responsibilities within a hierarchical academic structure, student and staff needs, and busy workloads to be completed within limited timeframes. This article looks at quick ways and easily implemented ideas for librarians to step back from daily demands and find time and activities to help reduce workplace stress.

KEYWORDS:

• librarians and stress
• relaxation
• stress-reducers