Public Librarian Job Stressors and Burnout Predictors
Daniella Smith, Bryan Bazalar, Maurice Wheeler
Abstract
Librarians experience a significant amount of job-related stress, which can lead to the psychological condition of burnout. This article explores existing literature on the subject and also details a new study undertaken by the authors. The study explored stressors, coping mechanisms, and the relationship between burnout predictors and reported stressors. Subjects of the study indicated that patron issues were the most prevalent stressor, while exercising, meditation, and breathing were the most common coping mechanisms. Workload was the most reported predictor of burnout. One of the other major findings was that stress on the job had no relationship to the demographic variables of age, years of librarianship experience, or gender.