RADICAL COMPASSION
Showing Empathy Even When It's Difficult
Erin Bos & Joanna Hunt
Compassion is “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it” - Merriam-Webster
Radical compassion – understood as a specific kind of actionable empathy that is directed towards the distress of others
WHAT IS RADICAL COMPASSION?
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Different from empathy
Starts with self-compassion
Non-performative
WHAT IS RADICAL COMPASSION?
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Campus and community hubs - see all sorts of needs
Vocational Awe - librarianship is a “sacred calling” to selfless work of improving society
Compassion Fatigue - exhaustion and withdrawal due to overexposure to incredible need
RADICAL COMPASSION IN THE LIBRARY
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For your students?
For your community/public patrons?
For your fellow faculty and staff?
WHAT CAN RADICAL COMPASSION LOOK LIKE?
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Saying “yes” to every need
Assuming others have the same bandwidth
Trying to fill from an empty cup
Adopting those in "constant crisis"
WHAT ISN’T RADICAL COMPASSION
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Building community
Building trust
Building boundaries
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF RADICAL COMPASSION
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RADICAL COMPASSION IN YOUR LIBRARY
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An Invisible Threat: Compassion Fatigue in Libraries @ BookRiot.com
How to Be More Compassionate: A Mindful Guide to Compassion @ Mindful.org
Creating Cultures of Radical Vulnerability and Empathy @ ACRLog
Three Ways to Deal with Upset Library Patrons Constructively @ Library and Science Culture
Trauma-Informed Librarianship: Building Communities of Care @ National Library of Medicine
RESOURCES
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THANK YOU!