Stress Among Selected Library Practitioners in Nigerian: A Diagnosis and prescription.

Abstract

Stress prevalence in the larger society also affects library practitioners. This makes stress studies amongst these information professionals both topical and challenging. The subsisting dearth of stress-based reports in the library professional literature available to the researchers provided further motivation for this investigation. The research setting is Imo State of Nigeria while the subjects of study consist of librarians and library officers drawn from different in the state libraries. Data were collected through a customized questionnaire designed to elicit information on signs, types, causes, consequences and remedies to stress among the respondents. Results show that the major signs of stress are tiredness, headache, forgetfulness and insomnia resulting from unfavorable situations and events at home and work place, in addition t, negative personal lifestyle. The major consequences of stress revealed in this study included: decline in productivity, quarrelsomeness, martial crises and in health complications. Adequate remuneration of library staff, positive lifestyle and other remedies proffered in this report, which were influenced by the findings, would assist in ameliorating the adverse consequences of stress amongst library personnel in the study location and elsewhere.