Acolytes Unite: Building Empathy in Libraries

Short Session Description: Libraries have the stereotype of being bastions of helping and understanding, yet many of us experience incivility in our daily work lives by both colleagues and patrons. Develop your Empath abilities with this quick-build session to disable foes and challenge fate. Gain Wisdom on the causes of incivility in academic and public libraries and build your Charisma to learn how to combat the effects of an uncivil environment, even if your background is a Hermit. Lastly, obtain the equipment you need to build empathy and forge a quest to protect yourself and mentor others.

Session Format & Style: This hands-on workshop will include a series of empathy-building exercises to be done in small groups.

Takeaways: During this session, participants will learn about the reasons for uncivil behaviors, types of incivility, the effects of incivility, and solutions to incivility, all focused on the specifics of library work. Participants will take part in multiple empathy-building exercises.

Organization: Formed

Contact Information:

Amy Pajewski, Student Success Librarian & Assistant Professor | West Chester University of Pennsylvania | apajewski@wcupa.edu

Sara Parme, Scholarly Communications Librarian & Assistant Professor | Indiana University of Pennsylvania | sara.parme@iup.edu