Nation's First Implementation of '7 Major Guidelines for Preventing Emotional Labor Damage'
Library Operation Policies Specify Protection Measures for Emotional Laborers
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 16th, Seoul City announced that it has established the nation's first "Seoul Area Public Library Librarians and Emotional Laborers Protection Guidelines and Manual" to protect public library librarians who suffer from emotional labor such as verbal abuse and sexual harassment.
Emotional labor refers to a type of work required by the job or organization in which workers must control their own emotions and express specific emotions different from what they actually feel, mainly during the process of directly or indirectly interacting with citizens.
The guidelines present the organizational roles and responsibilities that libraries and supervisory authorities (city/district offices, education offices) must execute to prevent emotional labor damage situations that may occur during work and to respond when such situations arise, outlined in "7 major directives."
First, city/district offices, education offices, and libraries must specify matters related to the protection of emotional laborers such as librarians in their operational policies. They should refrain from slogans like "~ is king" and actively work to spread public consensus on protecting emotional laborers by creating slogans that encourage respect for library workers.
Additionally, they must establish an "Emotional Laborers Protection Manual" tailored to each library's circumstances together with organizational members. For example, it includes provisions such as not forcing librarians to unilaterally and unconditionally apologize to resolve conflicts between librarians and users.
To recover from emotional exhaustion caused by emotional labor, appropriate rest must be guaranteed, and support programs such as education and counseling to prevent health problems should also be prepared.
The establishment and implementation of these guidelines are part of Seoul City's labor rights and treatment improvement measures for public library librarians announced earlier this year. The "Seoul Public Library Librarians Rights Improvement TF," composed of various levels from library directors to practical librarians and experts in related fields, worked together over the past six months to prepare them.
According to the "Public Library Consignment and Employment Status Survey" conducted by the city last year, 67.9% of public library librarians in the Seoul area reported having experienced verbal abuse from users, and 14.9% responded that they had experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault.
The Seoul Library will distribute the guidelines to a total of 176 public libraries in the Seoul area this month to serve as a reference when each library establishes protection systems for emotional laborers, and will also start a pilot project at five representative district public libraries (Gangseo, Dobong, Dongdaemun, Seodaemun, Songpa).
Lee Jung-soo, director of the Seoul Library, said, "This is a meaningful first step to alleviate the difficulties of emotional labor that public library librarians face daily," adding, "Although we cannot solve all problems at once, based on the guidelines, related organizations will continuously cooperate to create public libraries where librarians can work well."
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