- Mikayla Wobrak
- Dec 2, 2017
- 2 min read
This assignment was written for my Understanding Information (LIS 2000) class in graduate school. It was a part of a class discussion regarding professional ethics in libraries.
One of the things that specifically drew me to public librarianship as a career was the function of libraries as a no-cost community space and provider of resources and their unique position to act as a “Great Equalizer” (ALA, 2013). This speaks to the library’s goal to be for the public good, but I believe that our code of ethics goes a step further and posits that we must work proactively on prioritizing equity, diversity, and social justice in our library spaces, programming, and collections.
In the ALA’s Code of Ethics (2008), ideals such as intellectual freedom, democracy, and equity are codified into our organizational values. The Code of Ethics challenge us to fight censorship of diverse materials, to not put our personal values (or prejudices) over our professional duties, and to make sure our libraries provide high quality, equitable access and service to everyone in our communities (ALA, 2008). For our libraries to truly act as agents of social justice, “everyone” in this case must especially include the most marginalized populations in our community.
In the midst of the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, the Ferguson Public Library stayed open and provided an oasis amid violence and even “ad hoc school” for children while the schools were closed (NBC News, 2014). The San Francisco Public Library hired a full-time psychiatric social worker to provide mental healthcare for their large population of homeless patrons and also provided vocational rehabilitation programs (Goldberg, 2016). Many libraries also have partnerships with local foodbanks to distribute free summer lunches to children who rely on free school lunches during the year. These are just some examples that, to me, show how libraries can embody the ideal of social justice, and also illustrate how social justice fits very well into our professional Code of Ethics.
American Library Association. (2008). Code of ethics of the American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/proethics/codeofethics/Code of Ethics of the American Library Association.pdf.
American Library Association. (2013). Declaration for the right to libraries. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/declaration-right-libraries-text-only.
Goldberg, E. (2016). Library offers homeless people mental health services, and it’s working. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-library-is-often-the-safest-place-for-homeless-people-thats-why-this-one-hired-a-social-worker_us_56fbf43ee4b083f5c6063b0d.
NBC News. (2014). ‘In this together’: Ferguson library stays open amid violence. Retrieved from https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/together-ferguson-library-stays-open-amid-violence-n256346.