Competency A ~
Articulate the ethics, values, and foundational principles of library and information professionals and their role in the promotion of intellectual freedom.
Statement
As librarians, "we celebrate and preserve our democratic society by making available the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas so that all individuals have the opportunity to become lifelong learners - informed, literate, educated, and culturally enriched."
(American Library Association [ALA], 1999)
Today's libraries and librarians are a melange of passionate individuals and multifarious institutions. Together, they defend our constitutional right to express opinions, they value and celebrate diversity, they connect people and ideas, protect privacy and confidentiality, and they promote lifelong learning. Accepting the role of librarian means adopting certain established values and ethics and affirming that American libraries "are cornerstones of the communities they serve" (ALA, 1999). Foundational principles of the library profession were established to help guide and influence information professionals' decisions throughout their careers, and to help declare that "librarians and information professionals are moral agents responsible to themselves, others, and the society as a whole" (Rubin, 2004). Understandably, personalizing a set of professional principles, ethics, and values can take time; they are what validate our decisions every day. Fortunately, we are not alone in this endeavor, and ours is a profession saturated with collaboration and leadership, respect, good faith, and advocacy. There are many tools and resources available that will help us establish an ethical foundation. The Library Bill of Rights is one resource librarians can use to better understand the guiding principles of librarianship.
There are two questions that will help to articulate the foundational principles of the library profession: What are libraries? and What do librarians do? Libraries are knowledge centers that house and protect information for the people who need to access it; librarians are the people who organize and facilitate the dissemination of that information. While these are simplified answers to the questions posed above (libraries are also community centers, teaching institutions, and forums for the sharing of information and ideas; librarians are said to be moral agents as well as teachers and community partners), they still capture the essence of the foundation of the library profession which is to improve the public good and to promote social justice. As librarians, we improve the public good by acting ethically and on moral ground, and we do this willingly. Rubin (2004) has stated that in today's work world, professionals seldom have time for ethical reflection. In librarianship, this is a task that must not go undone. Ethical reflection is how we determine whether or not we are providing the best possible service to our communities. Providing as unbiased an opinion as often as possible in our day to day dealings with the public is acting on moral ground. When we can show the public that we do not judge, censor, or filter we, help them understand that intellectual freedom is a universal human right, a right that stands as a major part of the foundation of library service. By providing multiple points of view in a variety of formats we allow users to evaluate content and context, draw meaning from well informed conclusions, and express newfound ideas. By facilitating intellectual access, librarians promote the free expression and exchange of ideas that together create the path to intellectual freedom.
Throughout the history of librarianship, the ethical focus of the profession has shifted. According to Rubin (2004), the earliest ethical focus was on library collections and their corruptive capabilities and includes the years prior to 1930. The next noted focus, 1930 to 1950, was on the human aspects of library service which recognized the needs of library staff and public patrons as equally important. The third and current ethical focus which began in 1960 relates to the broader societal need to promote the public good and social responsibility, and extends beyond library staff to community members themselves. while it is the responsibility of librarians to educate and inform, it is the responsibility of the public to take an interest in the opportunity to learn, interpret, and then apply what they learn to their own lives. These shifts in ethical focus illustrate that libraries truly are living organisms that adapt as the demands that are placed on them evolve. As stated in the ALA Code of Ethics (2008), "ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict," so by making public the ethical guidelines of the profession, librarians and other information professionals are held accountable for their actions.
Evidence
In LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services with Professor Lili Luo, I collaborated with classmates to create a banned books pathfinder that served as a companion website to a user instruction presentation on the topic of banned books and censorship. The purpose of the pathfinder is to equip youth patrons of the San Francisco Public Library with information and resources on the subjects of banned books, censorship, and intellectual freedom. And though our focused user group was middle school aged children, anyone looking for information on these topics will find helpful resources using this pathfinder. My roles in the creation of this pathfinder were to design, research, add content, and provide guidance for group members who needed assistance with manipulating the website template. I also presented the pathfinder to the class using Elluminate Live!, a web conferencing program.
Not only does this pathfinder prove competency in the subject of intellectual freedom, it also proves competency in understanding the need to promote public good and social well being, two of the fundamental principles of library service. By educating young users to think for themselves and to challenge censorship, we help build a sense of democracy and leadership in the young generations of our communities. The SFPL Banned Books Pathfinder acts as a starting point for research where users can go to get ideas, learn about the history of banned books and censorship, and it is a tool that can be used to help young users begin to make their own decisions about what they read and why the choose to read certain materials, and not others. Through this pathfinder we facilitate intellectual access, we promote the free expression and exchange of ideas, and we help guide users of all ages towards a better understanding of intellectual freedom. As librarians, we act as moral agents and we are obligated to teach our communities about their freedom to read, "a human right essential to our democracy" (ALA, 2004). Censorship is alive a prevalent in American societies and in American schools, and as librarians we vow to bring these truths to the surface so people who wish to educate themselves have the tools to do so. Researching and designing this pathfinder helped me to refine my own understanding of what it means to possess the freedom to read and the right to express oneself, a right that is often taken for granted. I can stand firm and confident when I state that "the freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution" and "free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture" (ALA, 2004).
During the fall 2008 semester I was enrolled in LIBR 200 with Professor Mark Stover. The final assignment was to write a reseach paper in which I analyze a significant issue confronting the information professional today. The one major obstacle I faced when preparing to write this paper was that I could not settle on just one topic to write about. Every week posed new questions and presented new possibilities for research. Being new to the LIS scene, all topics seemed equally important and interesting. Halfway through the semester I settled on a topic: what it means to be an active librarian, and how the future of librarianship depends on the wilingness of librarians to adopt active roles in their communities. The official title of the research paper is The Active Librarian: Community Outreach is the Future of Librarianship.
There are many issues touched on in this paper that directly relate to Competency A. The first issue that is presented is public awareness. By sharing a personal story, I show how some people do not understand the change that libraries, and librarians themselves, have gone through in the past decade. Creating awareness is arguably the first step librarians can take to promote public good within their communities. If communities are unaware of the services libraries offer, then those services go unused which can lead to removal of services altogether. The next issue that is discussed is how libraries viewed as community centers can help to promote individual growth and human connections. As libraries evolve into family centers, community centers, and learning centers, our patrons are exposed to many more opportunities to enrich their lives and grow within themselves and with each other. By creating media centers, multiple computer stations, reading rooms, teen centers, and coffee houses inside libraries, we are opening our doors to more people, we are serving the needs and desires of more and more people, and we are helping community members come together in an atmosphere that is safe, welcoming, and enriching.
In the paper I also discuss the value of libraries and how they are viewed (1) as merit goods or goods that society accepts everyone should have access to; (2) as providing an external benefit where someone might benefit indirectly from another person's public library transaction; (3) and as a public good that can be consumed by one person and still be available for consumtion by another (Hawkins, Morris, & Sumison, 2001). One of the final issues discussed is that of the public will to invest in libraries and their missions. Librarians can reach out to their communities by identifying areas that need improvement and then adjusting services and programming accordingly, but without the support of community members, positive change is difficult to achieve. One important ethical concern for librarians is that of building morale and social awareness. Librarians can do this by adjusting programming priorities within the library to fit the current needs of the community. One example of this would be to offer more employment services (job searching, interviewing tips, resume building, etc.) and government aid resources as more and more community members find themselves out of work. By creating an atmosphere that is not intimidating and where people are exposed to positive attitudes from librarians willing to provide unbiased assistance, community members will thrive, they will find their inner strength to continue the hunt for employment, and they will look to librarians as a sustainable source of community support.
References
ALA. (1999). Libraries: An American value. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/americanvalue/librariesamerican.cfm
ALA. (2004). The freedom to read. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm
ALA. (2008). Code of ethics. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics.cfm
Hawkins, M., Morris, A., & Sumison, J. (2001). The economic value of public libraries. Australia Public Libraries and
Information Services, 14 (3), 90-96.
Rubin, R. E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman.
Evidentiary Material
http://libr210group4.weebly.com
As librarians, "we celebrate and preserve our democratic society by making available the widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas so that all individuals have the opportunity to become lifelong learners - informed, literate, educated, and culturally enriched."
(American Library Association [ALA], 1999)
Today's libraries and librarians are a melange of passionate individuals and multifarious institutions. Together, they defend our constitutional right to express opinions, they value and celebrate diversity, they connect people and ideas, protect privacy and confidentiality, and they promote lifelong learning. Accepting the role of librarian means adopting certain established values and ethics and affirming that American libraries "are cornerstones of the communities they serve" (ALA, 1999). Foundational principles of the library profession were established to help guide and influence information professionals' decisions throughout their careers, and to help declare that "librarians and information professionals are moral agents responsible to themselves, others, and the society as a whole" (Rubin, 2004). Understandably, personalizing a set of professional principles, ethics, and values can take time; they are what validate our decisions every day. Fortunately, we are not alone in this endeavor, and ours is a profession saturated with collaboration and leadership, respect, good faith, and advocacy. There are many tools and resources available that will help us establish an ethical foundation. The Library Bill of Rights is one resource librarians can use to better understand the guiding principles of librarianship.
There are two questions that will help to articulate the foundational principles of the library profession: What are libraries? and What do librarians do? Libraries are knowledge centers that house and protect information for the people who need to access it; librarians are the people who organize and facilitate the dissemination of that information. While these are simplified answers to the questions posed above (libraries are also community centers, teaching institutions, and forums for the sharing of information and ideas; librarians are said to be moral agents as well as teachers and community partners), they still capture the essence of the foundation of the library profession which is to improve the public good and to promote social justice. As librarians, we improve the public good by acting ethically and on moral ground, and we do this willingly. Rubin (2004) has stated that in today's work world, professionals seldom have time for ethical reflection. In librarianship, this is a task that must not go undone. Ethical reflection is how we determine whether or not we are providing the best possible service to our communities. Providing as unbiased an opinion as often as possible in our day to day dealings with the public is acting on moral ground. When we can show the public that we do not judge, censor, or filter we, help them understand that intellectual freedom is a universal human right, a right that stands as a major part of the foundation of library service. By providing multiple points of view in a variety of formats we allow users to evaluate content and context, draw meaning from well informed conclusions, and express newfound ideas. By facilitating intellectual access, librarians promote the free expression and exchange of ideas that together create the path to intellectual freedom.
Throughout the history of librarianship, the ethical focus of the profession has shifted. According to Rubin (2004), the earliest ethical focus was on library collections and their corruptive capabilities and includes the years prior to 1930. The next noted focus, 1930 to 1950, was on the human aspects of library service which recognized the needs of library staff and public patrons as equally important. The third and current ethical focus which began in 1960 relates to the broader societal need to promote the public good and social responsibility, and extends beyond library staff to community members themselves. while it is the responsibility of librarians to educate and inform, it is the responsibility of the public to take an interest in the opportunity to learn, interpret, and then apply what they learn to their own lives. These shifts in ethical focus illustrate that libraries truly are living organisms that adapt as the demands that are placed on them evolve. As stated in the ALA Code of Ethics (2008), "ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict," so by making public the ethical guidelines of the profession, librarians and other information professionals are held accountable for their actions.
Evidence
In LIBR 210 Reference and Information Services with Professor Lili Luo, I collaborated with classmates to create a banned books pathfinder that served as a companion website to a user instruction presentation on the topic of banned books and censorship. The purpose of the pathfinder is to equip youth patrons of the San Francisco Public Library with information and resources on the subjects of banned books, censorship, and intellectual freedom. And though our focused user group was middle school aged children, anyone looking for information on these topics will find helpful resources using this pathfinder. My roles in the creation of this pathfinder were to design, research, add content, and provide guidance for group members who needed assistance with manipulating the website template. I also presented the pathfinder to the class using Elluminate Live!, a web conferencing program.
Not only does this pathfinder prove competency in the subject of intellectual freedom, it also proves competency in understanding the need to promote public good and social well being, two of the fundamental principles of library service. By educating young users to think for themselves and to challenge censorship, we help build a sense of democracy and leadership in the young generations of our communities. The SFPL Banned Books Pathfinder acts as a starting point for research where users can go to get ideas, learn about the history of banned books and censorship, and it is a tool that can be used to help young users begin to make their own decisions about what they read and why the choose to read certain materials, and not others. Through this pathfinder we facilitate intellectual access, we promote the free expression and exchange of ideas, and we help guide users of all ages towards a better understanding of intellectual freedom. As librarians, we act as moral agents and we are obligated to teach our communities about their freedom to read, "a human right essential to our democracy" (ALA, 2004). Censorship is alive a prevalent in American societies and in American schools, and as librarians we vow to bring these truths to the surface so people who wish to educate themselves have the tools to do so. Researching and designing this pathfinder helped me to refine my own understanding of what it means to possess the freedom to read and the right to express oneself, a right that is often taken for granted. I can stand firm and confident when I state that "the freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution" and "free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture" (ALA, 2004).
During the fall 2008 semester I was enrolled in LIBR 200 with Professor Mark Stover. The final assignment was to write a reseach paper in which I analyze a significant issue confronting the information professional today. The one major obstacle I faced when preparing to write this paper was that I could not settle on just one topic to write about. Every week posed new questions and presented new possibilities for research. Being new to the LIS scene, all topics seemed equally important and interesting. Halfway through the semester I settled on a topic: what it means to be an active librarian, and how the future of librarianship depends on the wilingness of librarians to adopt active roles in their communities. The official title of the research paper is The Active Librarian: Community Outreach is the Future of Librarianship.
There are many issues touched on in this paper that directly relate to Competency A. The first issue that is presented is public awareness. By sharing a personal story, I show how some people do not understand the change that libraries, and librarians themselves, have gone through in the past decade. Creating awareness is arguably the first step librarians can take to promote public good within their communities. If communities are unaware of the services libraries offer, then those services go unused which can lead to removal of services altogether. The next issue that is discussed is how libraries viewed as community centers can help to promote individual growth and human connections. As libraries evolve into family centers, community centers, and learning centers, our patrons are exposed to many more opportunities to enrich their lives and grow within themselves and with each other. By creating media centers, multiple computer stations, reading rooms, teen centers, and coffee houses inside libraries, we are opening our doors to more people, we are serving the needs and desires of more and more people, and we are helping community members come together in an atmosphere that is safe, welcoming, and enriching.
In the paper I also discuss the value of libraries and how they are viewed (1) as merit goods or goods that society accepts everyone should have access to; (2) as providing an external benefit where someone might benefit indirectly from another person's public library transaction; (3) and as a public good that can be consumed by one person and still be available for consumtion by another (Hawkins, Morris, & Sumison, 2001). One of the final issues discussed is that of the public will to invest in libraries and their missions. Librarians can reach out to their communities by identifying areas that need improvement and then adjusting services and programming accordingly, but without the support of community members, positive change is difficult to achieve. One important ethical concern for librarians is that of building morale and social awareness. Librarians can do this by adjusting programming priorities within the library to fit the current needs of the community. One example of this would be to offer more employment services (job searching, interviewing tips, resume building, etc.) and government aid resources as more and more community members find themselves out of work. By creating an atmosphere that is not intimidating and where people are exposed to positive attitudes from librarians willing to provide unbiased assistance, community members will thrive, they will find their inner strength to continue the hunt for employment, and they will look to librarians as a sustainable source of community support.
References
ALA. (1999). Libraries: An American value. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/americanvalue/librariesamerican.cfm
ALA. (2004). The freedom to read. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/ftrstatement/freedomreadstatement.cfm
ALA. (2008). Code of ethics. Retrieved
from http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics.cfm
Hawkins, M., Morris, A., & Sumison, J. (2001). The economic value of public libraries. Australia Public Libraries and
Information Services, 14 (3), 90-96.
Rubin, R. E. (2004). Foundations of library and information science (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman.
Evidentiary Material
http://libr210group4.weebly.com
active_librarian_libr200.pdf | |
File Size: | 301 kb |
File Type: |