Where Am I Now?

Back in January at the beginning of the semester I outlinedsome of my assumptions and beliefs about the library profession.  At that time I articulated them as including:

1. Librarians are public servants. 

2. Librarian’s work will change depending on the community they are working in. 

3. Librarians must continue to learn in order to be effective. 

4. Librarians provide access to information freely and openly. 

5. Librarians give guidance and assistance.

Surprisingly, these assertions have not changed for me over the semester.  However, the way in which I would apply them in particular situations and how I would balance them when they compete with one another has shifted.  At the end of my original post about assumptions, I recognized the possibility that these beliefs could be in conflict with each other and wondered “What happens when a member of the community a librarian is working in pushes for a particular item excluded from the collection, against the judgment of the librarian?  How does a librarian choose what to include, knowing there are limited resources?  How does a librarian figure out what the needs of the particular community are?”  I now have a much better idea of how I would answer all those questions.  I’m looking forward to the fact that as I learn more about library best practices, that my understandings and application of these assumptions will continue to change.

I do feel like when I started the semester I had a very naive understanding of the profession.  I expected all librarians everywhere to always be striving for the highest goals of the profession and make decisions based on ideals.  However, both a project focusing on ethics and a paper about two library visits resulted in a shift in my thinking about how libraries operate.  The public library I worked at in college restricts movies that are rated R to patrons who are 18 or older.  This has always seemed like a good policy to me.  However, several of my classmates did an ethics project on a situation where a minor wanted to check out an R-rated movie with his mother’s permission.  The American Library Association encourages libraries to not restrict access to any materials based on age.  The ALA puts the responsibility on parents to set boundaries for their children, communicate them clearly and enforce them.  I now lean much more in that direction than I did before considering this particular ethical scenario with my classmates and hearing their viewpoints and reasoning.

The paper for which I had to visit two libraries greatly broadened my understanding of how libraries function, particularly in systems where there are multiple branches.  Even though I have worked at two different libraries, learning about library policies and procedures now that I’ve started to study the profession is a very different experience.  The little idea of what a library should be collided with what libraries actually are.  The biggest surprise I had was that collections decisions in the multiple branch system that I visited are made centrally at the main branch, not by librarians at neighborhood branch libraries.  I have had such a focus on how librarians can learn from patrons what materials they need, but there are other needs to be considered.  Budget is one of them, but it is also possible that a particular branch librarian will be biased towards collecting materials of interest to them.  Also, a branch librarian will not have the big picture, system wide view a centralized office would have.  I can now see the strengths and weaknesses of this model, but it has certainly changed the way I see the profession, large urban libraries and the current state of the profession.

Thankfully, even with this evolving understanding I am still very interested in working in a library.  I’m grateful to be a little shocked now, rather than after I start working at a new library.  I now have a better understanding that my past work as a librarian did not prepare me for everything, particularly in a large city with a diverse group of patrons with many needs.  I’m still looking forward to the challenge and the hard work of being a librarian.