Coping strategies work stress among librarians in public library

Background of the study: Stress is an inseparable part of a person's professional life, including the librarian profession. One of the librarians who experiences work stress is the Librarian of the Regional Archives and Library Service (DAPD) of Buleleng Regency. Remember, DAPD is the only district-level public library operating in Buleleng. The number of activities carried out, the various characters of the users served, and the library's targets make DAPD Buleleng librarians very vulnerable to work stress.

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to find out what the sources of work stress are and what strategies the DAPD Buleleng librarians use to overcome the work stress they experience.

Method: This research uses a qualitative approach with descriptive analysis methods. The technique for determining informants uses purposive sampling techniques and data collection techniques using interviews, documentation, and literature study.

Findings: From the research results, it is known that the source of work stress for DAPD Buleleng librarians is caused by two main situations, namely threatening situations such as excessive workload and unsuitable qualifications, inability to adapt to technology, attitudes, and character of librarians, and job targets that do not meet expectations; and challenging situations such as learning new things and maximizing efforts to achieve desired targets. The strategies used by DAPD librarians to deal with work stress are, sharing work, looking for a place that can restore their good mood, doing fun activities while at home, telling stories to colleagues, and praying to God.

Conclusion: It turns out that the work stress experienced by librarians also has an impact on work life and personal life. The results of this research can be a reference source for libraries that librarians need to have an understanding of the ability to manage work stress.

Introduction

One of the hopes to be realized when someone has completed education, courses, or training in a particular field is to have a job (hereinafter written with the term profession) and a good career. The hope is that the profession can have a positive and valuable impact not only on himself or on the smooth life of the institution or company, but also can bring benefits to the life of the community at large.

The amount of salary, the workload, the character of the leader, and the environment (physical and psychological) also become an inseparable part of the journey when someone is carrying out his profession or building his career. There is no problem when the journey goes according to what is expected. The salary earned is appropriate, the workload is not too excessive, the environment where we work in an atmosphere that brings emotional pleasure, and the leader always appreciates our work.

But what happens when all those "dreams" don't work out or don't match what we imagine and want. Not only do we experience a decline in physical health, but we also experience mental health problems for a long time if not treated immediately. We experience prolonged stress. We become unproductive. Communication and collaboration between coworkers deteriorates. If you do an online search or read electronic resources, you will soon learn that workplace stress is something you cannot take for granted.

The results of the 2023 UK Citizen stress statistics released through champion.health.co.uk revealed that there were 13.7 million days where employees missed work due to work stress, depression, and anxiety. In addition, one of the common causes of stress experienced by employees is work stress. Even the statistical figure reaches a percentage of 79%. The good news is that in Southeast Asia, especially in Indonesia, the percentage of work stress is the lowest (20%) compared to other Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines (50%), Thailand (41%) and Singapore (34%) (dataindonesia.id). Even the average Indonesian stress level is quite low (75%), if we look at the global stress level (86%)(Post, 2018-07-15). Although the data shows that the stress level of Indonesians is better, it does not mean that the issue of stress is not a serious concern or does not need to be managed, even with this data we must be more introspective, especially the stress experienced by individuals at work. Interestingly, work stress is not only experienced by certain professions, but also includes librarians.

Librarians are one of the most stress-prone professions. In fact, according to(Topper & F., 2007), librarians are more likely to experience stress than firefighters, racers, or teachers who are teaching unruly students. More repetitive and monotonous work in libraries has increased librarians' stress levels(Ekwelem, 2015). Not to mention librarians are required to be fluent in using new technology. Triggering factors or sources of librarian stress can come from within the library and outside the library. The demands on librarians come not only from library users, but also from the library itself. Thus, many activities and environments in the library not only demand the physical endurance of librarians, but also mental and emotional attention.

The high expectations of libraries mean that librarians must continue to hone their hard and soft skills in order to keep up with the increasingly complex needs of their users. But on the other hand, librarians experience stress when trying to do so. There are conflicting demands or rules that librarians cannot accept or follow. The result is not making the library more developed or advanced, but instead making librarians unable to contribute optimally(Patel et al., 2021). The effect is not only influential on weak productivity and communication, but also dangerous for the mental health of the librarians themselves. Actually, the effect is not only for the librarian, but also for the institution itself(Topper & F., 2007). Therefore, it is important for librarians to have and implement strategies in managing work stress. It is important to recognize that stress is something that cannot be avoided or ignored. Librarians may be able to divert it for a while, but not for a longer period of time.

Stress management strategies or often called coping is one of the skills that every librarian should and must have. Coping strategies aim to minimize the effects of stress so that it has a good impact on the productivity and performance of librarians. There are various coping strategies that librarians can use in an effort to manage their work stress.(Kodua-ntim et al., 2021)wrote that there are two ways that librarians can apply in overcoming stress in the workplace, namely counseling and social support. From a different study,(Vij, 2017), for example, wrote that the strategies that librarians can apply in overcoming work stress are adding new skills to professionalism responsibilities, communicating more effectively, caring more about physical health, and adding skills in technology. By understanding the two research results, it can be said that although librarians have not acquired stress management knowledge during their library education, the knowledge and skills of stress management are the main requirements for librarians to gain comfort, peace of mind and mind when working in unhealthy work environment situations.

Several previous researchers (Indonesia & outside Indonesia) have also studied this topic.(Puspitasari, 2020), for example, studied how librarians' work stress management of the library services