#E.J. Josey Award

[mcleemlis]

My 2018-2019 E.J. Josey Scholarship Essay Submission

I'm sharing my submission for the 2018-19 E.J. Josey Scholarship contest. The topic for the 2018-2019 essay was: What is the library's role in the current political climate as it relates to issue around social justice and the community? I was not one of the main winners for this award, but rather a second tier awardee who was lucky enough to win a scholarship when the BCALA obtained additional funding for this scholarship. I hope you enjoy reading my submission!

Please note that no changes have been made to this essay since it was submitted in 2018.

-Michelle

The ALA Code of Ethics states that libraries are responsible for and should be committed to the intellectual freedom, freedom of access to information, and equitable services for all library users (“Professional ethics”). Many of these ideals harken back to the establishment of the ALA Library Bill of Rights in 1939; serving our patrons, communities, and society has been a core value of librarianship for decades (Rubin, 2016). Modern libraries contribute to their communities by providing services for patrons, safeguarding intellectual freedom, and providing a safe space for marginalized peoples (Ettarh, 2018; Gustina & Guinnee, 2017). It is important that we continue to provide these values to the communities and populations we serve, especially during fraught times. The current political climate has increased tensions within American society, such as concerns surrounding illegal immigration, refugees, sexual assault and misconduct, and police brutality against minority individuals. These topics illustrate how diverse the American people and their needs are, but this diversity and the difficulties that come along with it can also create challenges that library staff may not be equipped to handle.

The library profession in the United States lacks racial diversity; 88% of MLIS-holding librarians are white (Morales et al., 2014). Many concerns in our current political climate relate to minority or marginalized populations, which makes them social justice issues. Since the profession is a majority white, many librarians may feel that they have no personal stake in these issues, do not have the background to combat these difficulties, or are not aware enough to take part in social justice initiatives. These opinions do not change what is written in our code of ethics or the Library Bill of Rights. As professionals within the library and information science field, we are obligated to provide “the highest level of service to all library users (“Professional ethics”)”. Even if we cannot identify with all patrons, it is our duty to support them equitably through library services. Supporting our users does not mean we need to be experts in the various aspects of social justice, but it does mean that we need to be aware of these challenges and how they are affecting our users and communities.

We may not have firsthand experience or extensive knowledge of issues like immigration status and rights for illegal immigrants, but we cannot deny that these are concerns for some of our patrons. The current political climate has caused some of these individuals to feel isolated from society and resources that could be helpful to them because now there is a higher level of fear and risk of being exposed and subsequently deported. Our code of ethics not only obligates us to provide resources for these groups within our communities, but it also requires us to protect the privacy and confidentiality of our users when they seek out information on or related to these topics (“Professional ethics”). Exemplifying these obligations, the Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois created a civic engagement workshop called “Know Your Rights” which aimed to inform users of their legal rights within the United States (Peet, 2018). Amidst rumors that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) representatives would be present at the workshop, the library canceled the event due to concerns about the safety of the participants, their patrons, and their staff (Peet, 2018). Community members protested the cancelation of this program, and in response the library dedicated a webpage that not only explained the reasoning behind the cancellation, but also provided the program content so their patrons would still be able to access this information (Peet, 2018). In this example, the Arlington Heights Memorial Library not only provided much needed information to their users, but they also took steps to protect their user’s privacy and ability to access this information.

Librarians and library staff may find topics like police brutality against minorities or racial injustices difficult or uncomfortable to discuss, especially when most members of our profession are white. A librarian’s race does not mean they can avoid or ignore these topics, but it is also important to remember that they don’t have to confront these issues all on their own. Librarians can, and should, use their position within society to bring information and resources together within a space that is safe and open to all who need access to these resources. Staff may not have the knowledge or experience needed to comment on or confront all of the injustices within our society, but we can provide a space for people who do have this knowledge to meet and share what they know with others within the community.

The question shouldn’t be what role libraries have in relation to social justice within our communities, because the ALA Code of Ethics clearly states that our role is to provide information and resources for all within our communities. The real question is if we will allow our lack of diversity, lack of experience with social justice, or discomfort with these issues to be excuses for us to sidestep our responsibilities to the populations and communities we serve. To ignore social justice issues that individuals in our communities must deal with in their daily lives is the same as ignoring these people, their struggles, and their needs.

References

Ettarh, Fobazi. "Vocational Awe and Librarianship: The Lies We Tell Ourselves." In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 10 Jan. 2018, www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/vocational-awe/.

Gustina, Margo, and Eli Guinnee. "Why Social Justice in the Library?" Library Journal, vol. 22, no. 4, 1 June 2017, pp. 52-55.

Morales, Myrna, et al. “Diversity, Social Justice, and the Future of Libraries.” Libraries and the Academy, vol. 14, no. 3, 2014, pp. 439–451., doi:10.1353/pla.2014.0017.

Peet, Lisa. "City of Library Love: PLA 2018 in Philadelphia." Library Journal, vol. 143, no. 8, 1 May 2018, pp. 12-15.

"Professional Ethics", American Library Association, May 19, 2017. http://www.ala.org/tools/ethics (Accessed December 12, 2018). Document ID: 39f580a8-833d-5ad4-f900-53ecfe67eb1f.

Rubin, Richard E. Foundations of Library and Information Science. 4th ed., American Library Association, 2016.