Managing Stress Among Librarians in Selected University Libraries in Ogun State Nigeria

Abstract Stress is evident in every workplace, irrespective of type or location. This study revealed that librarians experience stress in federal, state and private universities. However, there are variations in the levels of stress experienced by librarians from private, state and federal universities. According to the findings, there is no significance difference in the causes of stress among the various kinds of libraries studied. The causes are rather evident in physical, environmental, organizational, cultural, and managerial factors. There is high prevalence of stress among women of child bearing age as a result of the interface between home and the workplace. The study equally revealed that job stress has significant effects on effectiveness of librarians in university libraries, resulting in low productivity and output. The negative implications of work stress are recognized as a challenge to both employers and employees. It was also vividly revealed in the study that librarians manage stress through social withdrawal, emotional regulation and wishful thinking. The study therefore recommends positive attitude, ergonomics, self development, cultivating stress-free environment as relevant strategies for coping with stress. It also enjoins the Library and University Management to make provision for constant skill development of librarians, provision of recreational facilities as well as acquisition of necessary facilities among others. The work concludes that since proper management of stress can help harness the best from librarians, it behooves the Management to ensure that the best is put in place so that stress can be reduced to the barest minimum in university libraries