ISSN 2707-0476 (Online)

University Library at a New Stage of Social Communications Development. Conference Proceedings, 2020, No V

UniLibNSD-2020

MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING AT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Objective. The study is aimed at expanding the global library community awareness of the measures and tools to overcome occupational burnout based on the practical experience of the library and the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav (Ukraine). Methods. The main data were obtained by the method of internal and external observation, as well as the analysis of many years of practical experience of the library. Results. The author described the system of preventive psychological security measures of the university library and offered the tools for overcoming job burnout. Conclusions. For 15 years, the library staff has undergone a three-stage practical training, which gave librarians a new experience of better self-awareness, encourages active thinking, and hence better understanding of other people.

Keywords: library environment; occupational burnout syndrome; emotional exhaustion; psycho-emotional security

In the modern world, the library is the center of attraction of new trends, progressive ideas, creative thoughts. Social processes affect libraries, force them to change, to fill the library space with new content. Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Oleksii Onyshchenko (2020) notes that for libraries the task of fitting into the digital environment is an inevitable objective necessity. It is dictated by their eternal functions of accumulation, processing and transfer of knowledge, experience, information in general. It is the innovative way of development of libraries and the renewal of all aspects of their life that ensure the fulfillment of their social mission of transforming the profession of librarian into a scientific information specialist (information scientist). In our time of digital technology libraries remain the places where one can not only receive information, learn, develop, but also create intellectual recreation, get inspiration for new things and projects. The modern creative librarian, who is already embedded in the global system of the knowledge society, is prone to occupational burnout. Therefore, intellectual workers must be prepared for the changing challenges of the time.

Literature review. Emotional burnout is a symptom of today (Burnout, 2020; Occupational burnout, 2020), which, however, began to be studied by librarians several decades ago (Fisher, 1990). This is a state of exhaustion, which leads to complete or partial loss of strength, feelings and is accompanied by loss of joy and satisfaction in living. It affects people whose work involves constant communication - doctors, psychologists, teachers, managers, social workers, librarians, etc. For example, according to C. S. Shaw (1992), when a librarian burns out, he feels his own professional incompetence, dissatisfaction with work, depersonalization, and eventually his or her self-esteem deteriorates sharply. For a quality organization of work in the team there are important: firstly, the team to work harmoniously, secondly, a calm emotional state of each employee, thirdly, positive emotions, socio-psychological climate in the team. This opinion is shared by Ukrainian librarian T. Safonova (2019), who believes that it is the employees who retransmit information about the internal atmosphere and activities of the institution, so their negative image can lead to a rapid decline in the level of public confidence.

J. S. Caputo (1991) reflects in her research the factors that influence library services in the field of mental health in the new century. This includes problems of public policy, organizational climate within the team, and new technologies.

In the spring of 2018, B. Wood, Ana Guimarães, C. Holm, Sherrill W. Hayes, Kyle R. Brooks (2020) tested and checked the reliability of the work-related Copenhagen Burnout Inventory subscales among 1,628 academic librarians working in the United States. Academic librarians reported a total job burnout score of 49.6. In general, female participants aged 35 to 44 reported the highest level of job burnout, and men and the elderly reported the lowest level. This study also found some interesting information about non-binary librarians that suggests further research.

Ukrainian practices of librarians of higher education institutions, touching on this topic, emphasize the need for psycho-emotional security (Derkach, 2020; Hubar, 2020).

The objective of this study is to expand the global library community awareness of the measures and tools to overcome occupational burnout based on the practical experience of the library and the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav (Ukraine).

The main data were obtained by the method of internal and external observation, as well as the analysis of many years of practical experience of the library and the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav (Ukraine).

The main focus was on conducting art-therapeutic meetings and creating a psychological space that determine the development and active use of emotional self-resource skills among library professionals.

In order to prevent emotional exhaustion and occupational burnout of librarians in the book collection of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav, it is necessary to hold art-therapeutic meetings with the involvement of psychologists. In addition, a modern librarian must be a good psychologist himself. Therefore, such qualities as sociability, tolerance, friendliness, tact and emotional endurance are important for communication with visitors. Within the framework of cooperation of the university library staff with the head of the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the University Tetiana Kuzmenko, there are systematically carried out the measures, whose psychological support task is: prevention of psychological exhaustion and professional deformation of specialists; prevention of psychosomatic diseases; advisory assistance in solving acute life problems, crises, internal conflicts; promoting positive conflict resolution in the team, etc. The program of measures of psychological support for the scientific library employees is created and certain work experience is gained. Various forms of practical implementation of tasks are held at different sites of the university environment: seminars, trainings, unloading hours, inspiration hours, master classes, express consultations, etc., which are aimed at revealing personality, team building, creating a comfortable microclimate and a positive image of the library, namely:

1. Workshop "The Use of Sand Jungian Psychotherapy in the Process of Developing the Skill of Self-Analysis and Self-Presentation". In the student art gallery room during the workshop, each participant spoke about their problem, building a way out strategy with the help of sandboxes and children's toys, resulted in the analysis of their own actions and deeds.

2. Workshop "Formation of Psychological Self-Regulation Skill through Art Therapy". In the psychological unloading reference room the task was to draw a personal secret image in the form of an interesting fantastic animal, using an art-therapeutic technique to let the problem go, painting elements such as arms, wings, legs.

3. Hour of inspiration "Formation of Muscle Tension Relief Skill through Dance Therapy". In the assembly hall in a dance circle, accompanied by music, with the help of bright scarves, each participant expressed a hidden personal problem in dance tempo. This technique helped the members to achieve internal and external harmony in the team, to release the muscles, to create a friendly atmosphere.

4. Training "The Use of Fairy Tale Therapy in the Process of Age Crises". A collective viewing of a fairy tale about favorite hero Buratino took place in the library cinema hall. The task was to think up, to fantasize about fairy-tale characters, as a result of which there was an active communication of participants, demonstration of the richness of creative imagination.

5. Express-workshop "Formation of Negative-to-Positive Transformation Skill as a Guarantee of Psychological Health". The library reading room was used to explain how to prevent emotional and professional burnout with the help of metaphorical associative art cards. Each participant shared his creative thoughts, aesthetic views, transformed the negative into the positive.

6. Psychological express-consultation "Formation of Constructive 'Image' Response Skills in Tense Situations". In the reading room of the library the following tasks were set: to form collective responses for the micro-team with the help of metaphorical associative cards in groups. This helped to unite individuals in the team, to achieve trust.

7. Hour of psychological unloading "Formation of Stress Relief Skill by Means of Metaphorical Associative Cards (MAC)". In the psychological unloading reference room, the participants of the event, working with the MAC tools, through their own vision of associations of image metaphors, expressed their emotions and feelings in the present: here and now. This exercise gave the participants the opportunity to reveal their aesthetic tastes more deeply, to show openness.

8. Psychological game "Guardian Angel" as a Means of Forming a Positive Climate in the Library Team". In the space of the library on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, there were anonymously chosen the angels - librarians who, in secret, gave nice little gifts and signs of attention to their chosen ones. On the day of the holiday, each participant intuitively guessed his Guardian. The game filled the team with kindness and love, balancing and creating a positive microclimate in the library.

9. Hour of psychological unloading "Harmonization of Human Life Spheres as a Guarantee of Life Creativity". In the information and resource hall "Chumatskyi Shliakh" the participants did exercises with MAC "Harmony in Me" and "Clouds" accompanied by classical music. There was a psychological effect: the library, as a platform, became a place of psychological reset of personality. Each participant talked about the expediency of the selected image, why the selected card is associated with maximum harmony, full emotional balance. Participants were applauded for their performances.

10. Relax-hour "Time of Inspiration", the purpose of which was the formation of skills to manage their own psycho-emotional state, the development of a positive perception of reality. It is known that negative emotions have a bad effect on well-being and efficiency, which should and can be got rid of as soon as possible. This was facilitated by an hour of psychological relief. Demonstration of videos and specially selected exercises contributed to the development of positive self-perception and harmonious interaction with the outside world.

11. Hour of psychological unloading game "Life Balance - the Key to Happiness". The library staff with the help of a set of motivational quotes from V. Nazarevich "Pocket of Joy" got acquainted with the methods of harmonization of the inner state of the individual, approaches to life situations that would not be perceived as problems, ways to prevent emotional and professional burnout. During the game, each participant had the opportunity to discover the best features of their character and get advice from a psychologist.

12. Socio-psychological training "Living in the Positive: Sanogenic Thinking Techniques". The event was attended by librarians, teachers, students who were convinced that a positive attitude is a set of ideas and beliefs of a person about something or someone. In general, it is the knowledge one received, which turned into life attitudes and images, into the idea of the surrounding world and oneself. Accordingly, negative beliefs and perceptions form a negative attitude, positive beliefs – a positive one. Negative attitudes, in turn, are the basis for any negative emotions. The conclusion is obvious: to feel more positive emotions and feelings, you need to form as many as possible positive beliefs and ideas about the world around you, about yourself and your destiny. And the negative attitude (beliefs and ideas) must be removed, being replaced with a positive one.

13. Master class "Music Therapy as a Means of Improving the Emotional State of Individual". Music therapy is a science-based professional practice in which music is used to actively support people who want to improve their health, functioning and well-being. Therapy differs from music education and entertainment in the fact that it focuses on health and fit for people of any age and ability. The participants of the informative and interesting master class were library staff, teachers, employees of preschool educational institutions of the city, guests of the university.

The result of cooperation with the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the University is the constant growth and self-improvement of library staff, the formation of users’ and visitors’ perception of the library as part of the university community - intellectual workers, the formation of ecological worldview, careful attitude to others, awakening of thinking, formation of socially active, creative personality.

These issues were presented in the speech "Art-Therapeutic Meetings of Personal Growth of Library Staff" at the interlibrary seminar "Library Staff: Ways to Effectively Overcome Conflicts", on December 11-12, 2017, in Kyiv, NPU named after M. Drahomanov and at the Ninth International Exhibition "Modern Educational Institutions - 2018", on March 15-16, 2018, in Kyiv, round table "Personal and Professional Growth of Library Professionals: Art Therapy Studios". The following issues were discussed at the round table: the specifics of the use of psychological technologies in the process of psychological support of library staff; practical recommendations for optimizing the professional activity of library specialists. The target audience of the event was employees of research and higher education institutions.

Having positive experience and certain practices, the logical continuation of this topic was the organization of a regional training seminar for institution librarians on the topic: "Psycho-Emotional Security: Educational and Socio-Cultural Dimension". It took place in three stages in the university libraries of Pereyaslav, Kyiv and Irpin. The project started on January 23, 2020 in the library stack room of Pereyaslav University and was entitled "Psycho-Emotional Security: Educational and Socio-Cultural Dimension". It was visited by colleagues from the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Ukraine (Kyiv) and the University of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (Irpin). The topic of the seminar, which included art-therapeutic meetings "Fairy-Tale Therapy: Personal Meetings", "MAC-Therapy: Team Resources", "Bibliotherapy and Isotherapy: Ethno-Art", "Game Therapy", "Sand Play Therapy", was presented by Olga Shkyra, director of the library of Pereyaslav University, Tetiana Kuzmenko, consultant of the Psychologo-Medico-Pedagogical Consultation Service of the University, senior lecturer of the Education Management and Practical Psychology Department of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav, Olga Strilets, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Art Disciplines and Teaching Technique Department of the Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav, a member of the Union of Designers of Ukraine. During the event, psychological games and trainings were held, which built the interaction of participants, formed the ability to work in a team, created a positive atmosphere that facilitated trusting communication. Psychological exercises contributed to the psycho-emotional relief of the participants and were aimed at developing skills to prevent burnout, to overcome stressful situations. During the seminar, Olga Shkyra presented her own collection of poems "Staying with You to My Heart Content", using the methodology of bibliotherapy. The event ended at the Kobzar Museum of the National Historical and Ethnographic Reserve "Pereyaslav" with an interesting tour and a session of music therapy.

The next stage of the seminar on "Psycho-Emotional Security: Rehabilitation Basics in the Educational Process" took place on February 21, 2020 in Kyiv at the National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine (NUPESU). In addition to the announced participants, the seminar was attended by the representatives of the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design and the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. Therefore, Tetiana Omelchenko, Associate Professor of the Health, Fitness and Recreation Department of NUPESU shared the "Secrets of Health and Longevity" with the audience. The report "Formula of Successful People" and useful advice was made by M. M. Vasylenko, Associate Professor of the Health, Fitness and Recreation Department of NUPESU. And the champion of Ukraine in Latin American dances Daria Yagidka conducted a practical lesson "Life Without Restrictions: Dance Therapy".

The final stage of the regional seminar to exchange practical experience of higher education libraries was a round table "Prospects for Development of Scientific Libraries of Higher Education Institutions in the Conditions of Today's World Challenges: COVID-19", which took place on September 25, 2020 in Irpin on the basis of Scientific Library of the University of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine. The program consisted of interesting reports and presentations. Olga Shkyra, director of the library of Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav shared her practical experience "Emotional Resourcing Practice as Prevention of Professional Burnout". There was also a meeting-training with a practicing psychologist Volodymyr Mykolenko, founder and head of the School of Emotional Modeling (Kyiv) on the topic "Psychological Features of Professional Behaviour".

Thus, the staff of the library of Hryhoriy Skovoroda University in Pereyaslav has been gradually staged practical training for 15 years. At the first stage, each member of the library staff tried to size the psychologist up, listened to him/her; on the second stage there appeared a level of trust of the librarian both to the psychologist, and to the team members. Today, the team has experience typical of the third stage: it is the active use of advanced technologies. What do people get from participation in these activities? First of all, it is a new experience of better self-awareness, which encourages active thinking, and hence a better understanding of other people.

The famous Ukrainian writer Myroslav Dochynets noted that people should not be stuffed with knowledge, but enlightened, not taught by thoughts, but by thinking. Therefore, in the period of library digitalization, it is advisable to conduct such developmental training, which requires effort, physical and psychological health of librarians, creativity, endurance and efficiency.

Caputo, J. S. (1991). Stress and Burnout in Library Service. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. (in English)

Fisher, D. P. (1990). Are librarians burning out? Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 22(4), 216-235. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/096100069002200402 (in English)

Onyshchenko, O. (2020). Adaptation of libraries to “Life in Didits”. Bibliotechnyi Visnyk. 1, 3-8. Retrieved from http://bv.nbuv.gov.ua/doc/bv_2020_1_3 (in Ukranian)

Safonova, T. (2019). Forming the image of a modern librarianas important direction of library PR-activity. Visnyk Knyzhkovoyi palaty Ukrayiny. 7, 25-28. Retrieved from http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/vkp_2019_7_7 (in Ukranian)

Wood, B., Guimaraes, A., Holm, C., Hayes, S., & Brooks, K. (2020). Academic Librarian Burnout: A Survey Using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). Journal of Library Administration. 60 (5), 512-531. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2020.1729622 (in English)

Бібліотека, Університет імені Григорія Сковороди в Переяславі

ПСИХОЕМОЦІЙНА БЕЗПЕКА:

ПРОФІЛАКТИКА СИНДРОМУ

ПРОФЕСІЙНОГО ВИГОРАННЯ

БІБЛІОТЕЧНИХ ПРАЦІВНИКІВ

Мета. Дослідження спрямоване на розширити уявлення бібліотечної спільноти світу про заходи та інструментарій подолання професійного вигорання на основі практичного досвіду бібліотеки та консультативної психолого-медико-педагогічної служби Університету Григорія Сковороди в Переяславі (Україна). Методика. Основні дані були отримані методом внутрішнього і зовнішнього спостереження, а також аналізом багаторічного практичного досвіду бібліотеки. Результати. Описано систему профілактичних заходів психологічної безпеки університетської бібліотеки та пропонується інструментарій подолання професійного вигорання. Висновки. Колектив бібліотеки за 15 років пройшов триетапне практичне навчання, що дало бібліотекарям новий досвід кращого усвідомлення самих себе, спонукає до активного мислення, а значить, і кращого розуміння інших людей.

Keywords: бібліотечне середовище; синдром професійного вигорання; емоційне виснаження; психоемоційна безпека

https://doi.org/10.15802/unilib/2020_220347