Librarian… one of the least stressful jobs in 2013?!?!?
As per usual, people outside the library field really have no idea what a librarian actually does. CNBC posted the 10 least stressful jobs of 2013 and you guessed it – librarians made the list. Now the acutal list seems to have come from a company called CareerCast. Clcik here for their article.
“‘You’re working in a comfortable environment. Your job is to help people use services as best as possible. Given that environment, stress levels are low,” Lee said. “What’s the most stressful thing a librarian faces? Teenagers with a paper due and you don’t have the books. It’s not really your stress,’ Lee said.
Plus, there are mandatory “quiet” rules in libraries and you’re surrounded by books.
Books don’t talk back or criticize the job you’re doing!”
Clearly, Lee has very little understanding of what librarians do and what it means to be a librarian in an age where I am regularly asked how I feel about a job that will be nonexistent in a few years. Let me say, that although libraries have been generally seen as places that hold books – they are so much more than that! Libraries offer movies, video games, magazines, toys, playaways, e-readers, and programs! Regardless of what type of library a librarian works in, I can honestly tell you it can be very stressful.
1.) Budgets! As the entire country found themselves in a recession, libraries are the first place to see cuts (when our statistics are going up, are budget is going down!)
2.) Public Service – I would have to say if you work in a public service oriented job, it’s going to be stressful. I am constantly reminding myself that I never know someone’s entire story and if they are yelling at me for something out of my control, then I just have to grin and bear it (usually).
3.) Especially for children’s librarians – Summer Reading. People LOVE summertime and I do, to an extent. Summer, now means for me the “busier” season at the library where it’s not uncommon for me to work a couple of 12-hour days, have at least 10 programs a week that I am personally in charge of, plus handle the reference desk where parents are frantically looking for summer reading books for their reluctant reader.
Whenever I tell people that I’m a children’s librarian I seem to get two different reactions. The first, “Wow! That’s so cool!” or “Oh, that’s interesting.” Usually followed by a bewildered or smug look as if they were to say, “I didn’t even know you had to go to school to be a librarian.” or “Ohhh, isn’t that sweet, she must get to read all day.”
I think it is our jobs as librarians to educate the public on the important job we hold for the community – to show people that yes we do work with books, but libraries aren’t the quiet tombs people once knew. Now we must prove to be the center of the community with programming for babies to seniors and education and entertainment resources for everyone.