Inclusion and Empathy Are Not Enough: Cultivating Student Belonging in the Academic Library Through Compassion

This article explores the challenges, complexities, and contradictions of promising complete inclusiveness for all students and advocates for academic libraries to pursue student belonging. A sense of belonging is not only memorable for the student but impactful, as it results in closer social connections and higher rates of persistence. While an organizational foundation of inclusivity is inarguably essential, it must be coupled with individualized social support from public-facing employees. Tolerance, empathy, and compassion are compared as social support approaches for cultivating belonging, and tough situations that threaten students’ sense of belonging are examined. Academic libraries should not settle for an end-goal of inclusivity but instead seek to create an environment that abounds with opportunities for students to experience a profound sense of belonging as they grow and learn.