Conflicts

Librarians face conflicting moral, social and legal obligations. They have to negotiate between their own moral beliefs, the ethical standards held by their profession as well as their duty to their local community (however that is defined). The school librarian, because of who patronizes the school media center, must negotiate between a duty to educate and expose children to as wide a variety of literature as possible while also being mindful of the values of the parents, school district and school administration. 

When school libraries and censorship is introduced as a topic, the first thought is often books with a sexual content, those that introduce children to gay people or books that challenge religious beliefs.  However, the other side of the political spectrum can also push for the removal of books because of perceived sexist and racist content. Moore (1981) has argued that neither objecting to sexist and racist material nor pushing for the inclusion of non-sexist, non-racist material at the expense of older, objectionable material constitutes censorship. It cannot be denied that there are books and other materials in circulation that contain outdated references to women, racial and ethnic minorities. As older materials are replaced, a library should consider including books that reference minority cultures, history and important figures. Sexist material that pushes girls to pursue certain careers or behave in a certain way should be balanced with material that demonstrates equality between men and women. The question is whether or not not selecting certain material for inclusion in a collection (or removing it from circulation) equals censorship.  

Burress (1981) agrees with Moore that sexist and racist material should be criticized but it should not be excluded from inclusion within a collection. He argues that no literature should be reduced to one dimension. Censorship based on egalitarian desires to be inclusive are as dangerous to intellectual freedom as are fears of including dangerous materials. Books with racist or sexist language could be valuable for children for other reasons. No books should be reduced to one reading. This censorship from the left can bring about the same negative consequences that censorship from the right can bring. 

Moore, R. & Burress, L. (1981, September). Bait/Rebait: The criticizing of racism and sexism by the Council on Interracial Books for Children is not censorship. The English Journal, 14-19.

Liberty and privacy or security?

A librarian presented with a request for circulation records can refer to the ALA's positions on the subject as a basis for formulating a response. David E. Woolwine has written a very interesting article which explores what sort of ethical arguementation should be employed by the ALA in arguing that privacy and the right to read is as important a part of freedom as is a vigorous defense against terrorism. While much of the paper debates Utilitarian ethics versus Rorty's liberal democratic defense of rights, the most interesting part to me was Woolwine's assertion that it is the role of privacy, free access to information and public dialogue in the creation of a particular type of individual that is most valuable to society. Institutions like libraries help provide the type of information and access to culture that is necessary to establish autonomous individuals who are self-expressive and able to give informed assent to their government. 

In fighting against laws such as the Patriot Act, librarians are providing as much defense to the "American Way of Life" as are the military and intelligence services.

Woolwine, D. (2007, September). Libraries and the Balance of Liberty and Security. Library Philosophy and Practice. Retrieved February 29, 2008 from http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~mbolin/woolwine.htm/span>

Writing Collection Policies

One aspect of library ethics is related to how items in the collection are chosen and, conversely, not chosen. The ALA provides a list of resources to aid librarians in developing their collection policies.


The list provides some interesting examples of the policies in force in a variety of library types. The Germantown Academy school library (Germantown, PA) specifically directs those who would complain about a particular item in the library to the "Students' Right to Read," published by the National Council of Teachers of English. It was good to read that the Academy's library policy is directed towards providing information on multiple sides of controversial issues.

The Students' Right to Read is fascinating and worth of a post in its own right.

While this video includes a lot of editorializing by the poster, it does allow me to introduce an ethical dilemma that computers have introduced to libraries. How can a public library balance its commitment to freedom of speech with the fact that the internet allows material to be "included" in its collection that would not be selected by the library on its own?

The Sacramento Public Library struggled with this issue in March 2007.
The problem in Sacramento was caused by patrons being offended by material others were viewing online. According to the Sacramento Bee , the library filters internet access by default but adults can request an unfiltered internet session. A decision was reached to alter the language in the internet-use policy which would allow librarians to ask users to refrain from viewing internet sites that "would interfere with the maintenance of a safe, welcoming and comfortable environment for the public." The policy in full can be viewed here: http://www.saclibrary.org/about_lib/internet_use.html

What I found very interesting was that an incident involving an alleged attempt to sexually assault a child at a library appeared to have influenced the decision of some of the board. This ties directly into the issue of in loco parentis that Rubin (2004) discusses. Public libraries may allow children over a certain age to remain in the library without parents but they do not have the same in loco parentis role that a school library has. In light of this, should the member of the library board have allowed an assault that was unrelated to internet access to influence her decision?

Fletcher, E. (2007, November 4). Library internet limits urged. Sacramento Bee. pp. B1. Retrieved from http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/142825.html

Internet porn at library argued: Governing board rejects viewing ban adopts 'safe' policy. (2007, March 23). Sacramento Bee. pp. B1. Retrieved from http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/142825.html

Liberalviewer. (2007, March 29). Can a public library screw your constitutional rights? Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSkWN5eIxWM

Rubin, R.E. (2004) Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.

Archie Dick/South African Libraries

Members of my Foundations of Library Science course at USF will remember reading an article by Owens from Library Management 23 (1/2), 53-58 that described the role of libraries in South Africa in the struggle against Apartheid. I thought it would be interesting for everyone to hear Dr. Archie Dick, Professor of Information Science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, speak about the struggle.

9thletter. (2007, November 1). Archie Dick. Video posted tohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNY_B4raML4

Codes of Ethics

Part of creating a blog on libraries and ethics was assembling a list of codes of ethics adhered to by the professional organizations to which serve the various types of librarians. In comparing the various codes of ethics, there were two items of interest that repeated. The first is the idea that the librarian, regardless of which type, has a duty to the profession and its values that should not be violated. While there is a duty to the organization or community which supports the library, the values of the profession should not be compromised. The second item that repeated was the duty of the librarian to uphold intellectual property rights while providing information to users.

One of the professional values that the SCIP and ALA both emphasized is the need to avoid conflicts of interest although the ALA was specific in mandating that the librarian separate personal beliefs from professional duties. The ASIS&T requires its members to "treat all persons fairly." 

As an interesting point of contrast, I have included a link to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions collection of professional codes of ethics. Some are brief lists while others include expository comments on the items in the code.