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Description

This chapter explores the role of compassionate care as a critical leadership practice in the library workplace, with a particular focus on academic health sciences libraries. Drawing on the author’s lived experience as a Black woman library leader and on over two decades in the profession, the chapter situates compassionate care at the intersection of compassionate and inclusive leadership and organizational well-being. In the context of ongoing collective trauma, including the COVID-19 pandemic, racial violence, political polarization, and sustained attacks on libraries, the chapter argues that compassion must move beyond empathy to intentional, actionable leadership. It examines how social identities, intersectionality, and implicit bias shape leadership practices and workplace experiences, and emphasizes leaders' responsibility to dismantle systemic inequities while fostering belonging and psychological safety. The chapter provides practical strategies for operationalizing compassionate care, including setting workplace ground rules, leveraging institutional resources, addressing salary equity, implementing recognition and high-touch engagement practices, and prioritizing wellness and self-care. Ultimately, this chapter positions compassionate care as an essential, values-driven framework for cultivating resilient, equitable, and humane library workplaces where workers can thrive.

Department

Academic Affairs Faculty

ISBN

979-8-89255-334-6

Publisher

Association of College and Research Libraries

Publication Date

2026

Embargo Period

4-24-2026

City

Chicago

Keywords

compassionate leadership, inclusive leadership, academic health sciences libraries, workplace well-being, belonging

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Compassionate Care in the Library Workplace

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