Comments on: Librarians and Their Stressful Jobs

By: Just Some Details

Just Some Details — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:47:53 +0000

If you work with the PUBLIC, in any capacity, your job is stressful. Add to that dealing with a public that involves drunks, vagrants and mentally people off their meds, triple that stress. ‘Nuff said.

By: N-gella

N-gella — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:28:54 +0000

Saying that a job occasionally has complications or conflicts is not the same as it being very stressful. Saying that it does makes us all look ridiculous.

By: Ingrid

Ingrid — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:57:10 +0000

How incredibly snobby and just plain childish.

By: JC

JC — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 20:59:52 +0000

“All the complaining about stress says a lot more about the sort of people who become librarians than the sort of jobs librarians have.”

Bingo.

By: somewhatstressedoutlibrarianguy

somewhatstressedoutlibrarianguy — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:09:58 +0000

I’ve been in the library/archives profession for over 8 years now. I have, for the most part, found it enjoyable. I left my old position, in a direly underfunded state preservation agency, for a high profile role in public services at a semi-urban public library. I left because I have a family, and this public library has awesome funding and is a real jewel in the region. The salary and stability were really good (benefits not so much, but should be improving).

I’m not sure what is more stressful, though–raising very small children and having a baby when your job could be on the chopping block for three straight years, or managing people and patrons in a public library. The archive I came from was bucolic only in the sense that there never, EVER were any incidents there. But the director was a Caligula type character–with Mr. Asbergers as his henchman. Couple that with constant threat of job loss–I’d take my public lib. any day, despite the teeming masses of demanding, frequently rude, and often mentally ill patrons.

However, previous to my career in academia/libraries, I worked as a landscaper, forester, bike mechanic, you name it. Those jobs were decidedly unstressful and bucolic in those carefree Clinton days.

Because of the economy and the dire funding of libraries and the arts in general, I’d give our profession a 6 out of 10 in terms of stress level.

By: annoyedlibraryworker

annoyedlibraryworker — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 03:29:04 +0000

yeah,welcome to most of the American workforce these days

By: Joneser

Joneser — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:24:02 +0000

Here’s a sixth reason: even if you have a job, it could be part-time, with or without health insurance. So much for making a living.

By: Joneser

Joneser — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:22:14 +0000

So I guess Andrew doesn’t work in the USA. He must work in Canada.

By: PT

PT — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:59:50 +0000

Dear Urban Librarian,

I commiserate: sounds just like my old job in a NJ library (will not name).

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 21:46:31 +0000

About the ‘library machinery’-anyone who has worked in preservation understands that even the most meticulous staff people let a blade slip every once in a while. I’ve never seen anyone lose a finger yet, but preservation labs tend to be full of machine-related occupational hazards, more so than, say, a typical reference librarian would see. It would take someone either very malicious or very dumb, but it is not unimaginable to see the damage that could be done by messing with an automated box cutter, paper guillotine, deep freezer, or iron press, not to mention things like plexiglass benders, adhesives and other chemicals that are routinely stored there.