Course Information
| Session |
|---|
| Credits | 1.5 CEUs or 15 PDHs |
|---|---|
| Registration dates | We accept registrations through the first week of classes, unless enrollment is full, and unless the class was canceled before it started due to low enrollment. |
Overcoming Compassion Fatigue in Library Work
$250.00
Dates: May 4 - May 31Credits: 1.5 CEUs or 15 PDHs
Library staff often find themselves supporting people in distress, from students under pressure to community members facing housing insecurity or mental health challenges. While this caring role is central to the profession, it can take a toll. Over time, repeated exposure to others’ struggles can lead to compassion fatigue: emotional exhaustion, reduced empathy, and even questioning your professional purpose.
This four-week course provides practical tools to recognize, prevent, and recover from compassion fatigue. We’ll explore the difference between burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue; introduce strategies for self-kindness and resilience; and consider how libraries can build supportive cultures that acknowledge the emotional labour of their staff.
Through readings, reflective exercises, and peer asynchronous discussion, participants will create their own “resilience toolkit” to sustain empathy and protect their energy in the long term.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
• Recognise the signs and impacts of compassion fatigue in library work.
• Distinguish between burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue.
• Apply self-kindness and boundary-setting strategies to protect energy.
• Use reflective practice and peer support tools to aid recovery.
• Develop personal and team approaches to sustaining empathy over time.
Who Should Take This Course:
Library staff at any level who regularly provide emotional support to patrons or colleagues, as well as managers and leaders who want to foster healthier, more sustainable team cultures.
Course Description
Library staff often find themselves supporting people in distress, from students under pressure to community members facing housing insecurity or mental health challenges. While this caring role is central to the profession, it can take a toll. Over time, repeated exposure to others’ struggles can lead to compassion fatigue: emotional exhaustion, reduced empathy, and even questioning your professional purpose.
This four-week course provides practical tools to recognize, prevent, and recover from compassion fatigue. We’ll explore the difference between burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue; introduce strategies for self-kindness and resilience; and consider how libraries can build supportive cultures that acknowledge the emotional labour of their staff.
Through readings, reflective exercises, and peer asynchronous discussion, participants will create their own “resilience toolkit” to sustain empathy and protect their energy in the long term.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
• Recognise the signs and impacts of compassion fatigue in library work.
• Distinguish between burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue.
• Apply self-kindness and boundary-setting strategies to protect energy.
• Use reflective practice and peer support tools to aid recovery.
• Develop personal and team approaches to sustaining empathy over time.
Who Should Take This Course:
Library staff at any level who regularly provide emotional support to patrons or colleagues, as well as managers and leaders who want to foster healthier, more sustainable team cultures.
Helen Rimmer
Helen Rimmer owns The Kind Brave Leader training company and is the former Head of Library and Archives Service at the University of Westminster having previously held roles at different levels at Royal Holloway, City University, INTO UEA and University of Brighton. She is passionate about building a kinder world, improving wellbeing, compassionate leadership, and Flexible Working. Helen has a PGCert in the Psychology of Kindness and Wellbeing at Work from the University of Sussex, and is sharing her knowledge through her The Kind Brave Leader project. She has many years experience in teaching and instruction, including online, primarily in roles as a subject librarian.
How to Register
To enroll yourself or other participants in a class, use the “Register” button that follows the description of each course. If the “Register” button does not show up, try loading the page in a different web browser. Contact us if you have technical difficulties using our shopping cart system or would like to pay for an enrollment using another method. On the payment page in the shopping cart system, there is a place to add notes, such as the names and email addresses of participants you wish to enroll. We will contact you to request this information in response to your processed payment if you do not include it in the “notes” field. Prior to the start of the workshop, we will send participants their login instructions.Payment Info
Our shopping cart system allows you to pay with a credit card or with PayPal.Alternatively, if it is an institutional payment, we can arrange to invoice you. Contact us by email, and we can make arrangements to suit your institution's business processes.
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