Standard 3: Information and Knowledge
3.2.4. Access to Information: Candidates model and communicate the legal and ethical codes of the profession.
Artifact:
Application of Ethical and Legal Principles of Librarianship
Every year, I feel as if my communication with students’ parents is not sufficient. It’s a weakness, I know, but I am a teacher without children. I am intimidated because I tell myself the parents are more knowledgeable than I am. And, to a point, I am correct. Parents are older than me and have experienced more. However, I must remember that, unless a child’s mother or father is an English teacher (of which there have been a few in the past seven years), I am more knowledgeable about teaching English. And, once I move into the library setting, I must remember that I will be more knowledgeable than parents about running a library. My completion of school library assignments has shown me this. For example, a few semesters ago in Selection and Use, I wrote four essays, detailing my points-of-view regarding potential censorship scenarios. My responses clearly communicate the legal and ethical codes of the school library profession.
The Library Bill of Rights as set forth by the American Library Association (ALA) states that, “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” In class, our professor presented us with an article about librarian censorship from Knowledge Quest. The article quotes several offended young adult authors. These authors, knowing that their books have racier themes or mature subject matters, were at first surprised to not hear of more book challenges. They discovered that many librarians, in an effort to avoid uncomfortable situations, prevented the challenges from even occurring by not ordering the books for their collections. We used the discussion of this article in class to segue into our assignment: the Application of Ethical and Legal Principles of Librarianship (Application). Our textbook, The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and Information Sources by Kay Bishop, presented a number of scenarios of potential ethical and legal school library breaches. We chose four and responded in kind. Of all of our assignments in Selection and Use, I anticipated that this one would be the simplest because it required us to do what our portfolio is now asking of us: to reflect. Boy was I wrong! I spent hours upon hours reflecting upon the four scenarios I chose. The ethical sides of these scenarios have so many angles – I found establishing clear answers incredibly difficult.
Our professor encouraged us to examine the Freedom to Read statement, the Library Bill of Rights, and our county’s procedures for book challenges. Combined together, all of these documents reach a simple conclusion: As long as an item has been deemed appropriate for a student audience by two reliable review sources, including booklists, a book should not be censored. While this conclusion is simple, there are nuances that are a bit stickier. For example, how do you react when a school board member tries to extract a book without following the process? What do you say to a parent who wishes that a book be unavailable only to her daughter? I examined these and other questions in my Application responses.
What did I discover about myself as a future librarian during the process? First, that I understand how strong a librarian must be in the face of adversaries, more commonly known as teachers who wish to make more copies than Copyright Law allows. When I began the Application responses, I prepared myself to take on all of the parents and school board members. Yet, instead I was faced with a copyright scenario involving a wide-eyed seemingly innocent teacher. I have spoken to a number of school librarians throughout the course of my studies. They all say the same thing – it is tough being the Copyright Nazi. And yet, in order to be an effective librarian, I must be able to enforce the legal codes of the profession. I understand that enforcing copyright legality and the fair use guidelines is my responsibility. Through large staff meetings and smaller departmental and team meetings, I will reinforce the law with my colleagues. I cannot stop them from breaking the law; I do not have a badge. I can, however, educate teachers and suggest or provide alternative lessons or activities.
The benefit of enforcing the legal codes of the profession is that key word: legal. When addressing copyright issues, the law is on the librarian’s side. In the school library, decisions are much more difficult when centered on ethical codes. A parent walks in and asks to see the check out record of her daughter in order to “make certain” her daughter has returned all of her materials. Where is the law in this? It is not there. However, according to the ALA’s Code of Ethics, Article III states, “We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.” So as a librarian, I have a duty to uphold my library patrons’ right to privacy. But a parent of a fourth grade student may genuinely want to help return these materials. These and other fine distinctions are why enforcing a code of ethics in one’s own library needs to be considered carefully.
The Library Bill of Rights as set forth by the American Library Association (ALA) states that, “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” In class, our professor presented us with an article about librarian censorship from Knowledge Quest. The article quotes several offended young adult authors. These authors, knowing that their books have racier themes or mature subject matters, were at first surprised to not hear of more book challenges. They discovered that many librarians, in an effort to avoid uncomfortable situations, prevented the challenges from even occurring by not ordering the books for their collections. We used the discussion of this article in class to segue into our assignment: the Application of Ethical and Legal Principles of Librarianship (Application). Our textbook, The Collection Program in Schools: Concepts, Practices, and Information Sources by Kay Bishop, presented a number of scenarios of potential ethical and legal school library breaches. We chose four and responded in kind. Of all of our assignments in Selection and Use, I anticipated that this one would be the simplest because it required us to do what our portfolio is now asking of us: to reflect. Boy was I wrong! I spent hours upon hours reflecting upon the four scenarios I chose. The ethical sides of these scenarios have so many angles – I found establishing clear answers incredibly difficult.
Our professor encouraged us to examine the Freedom to Read statement, the Library Bill of Rights, and our county’s procedures for book challenges. Combined together, all of these documents reach a simple conclusion: As long as an item has been deemed appropriate for a student audience by two reliable review sources, including booklists, a book should not be censored. While this conclusion is simple, there are nuances that are a bit stickier. For example, how do you react when a school board member tries to extract a book without following the process? What do you say to a parent who wishes that a book be unavailable only to her daughter? I examined these and other questions in my Application responses.
What did I discover about myself as a future librarian during the process? First, that I understand how strong a librarian must be in the face of adversaries, more commonly known as teachers who wish to make more copies than Copyright Law allows. When I began the Application responses, I prepared myself to take on all of the parents and school board members. Yet, instead I was faced with a copyright scenario involving a wide-eyed seemingly innocent teacher. I have spoken to a number of school librarians throughout the course of my studies. They all say the same thing – it is tough being the Copyright Nazi. And yet, in order to be an effective librarian, I must be able to enforce the legal codes of the profession. I understand that enforcing copyright legality and the fair use guidelines is my responsibility. Through large staff meetings and smaller departmental and team meetings, I will reinforce the law with my colleagues. I cannot stop them from breaking the law; I do not have a badge. I can, however, educate teachers and suggest or provide alternative lessons or activities.
The benefit of enforcing the legal codes of the profession is that key word: legal. When addressing copyright issues, the law is on the librarian’s side. In the school library, decisions are much more difficult when centered on ethical codes. A parent walks in and asks to see the check out record of her daughter in order to “make certain” her daughter has returned all of her materials. Where is the law in this? It is not there. However, according to the ALA’s Code of Ethics, Article III states, “We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.” So as a librarian, I have a duty to uphold my library patrons’ right to privacy. But a parent of a fourth grade student may genuinely want to help return these materials. These and other fine distinctions are why enforcing a code of ethics in one’s own library needs to be considered carefully.
The range of scenarios to which I responded allowed me to communicate a school library’s legal and ethical codes. However, modeling these codes will not come until I have my own school library. Many school librarians with whom I have spoken have faced parent complaints, copyright infractions, and book challenges. And they all give the same advice: be prepared. Know the laws, know the ethical codes, and know the county’s reconsideration policy. My SLM mentor recommends having a binder of all of the county-wide and ALA policies about text selection right up at the circulation desk. This way, if a parent or community member pays me a surprise visit, I can access the needed materials quickly and efficiently. As a librarian, I must follow a county-wide process in ordering materials that are age-appropriate for my patrons. Every school librarian has told me to be prepared to stand strong. If I have ordered books according to county policy, I have no reason to be meek.
It has taken me seven years to feel comfortable with my authority as an English teacher. I believe with the work I have done in the McDaniel program and throughout my internship, I will need much less time establishing myself as an authority on school library law and ethics. |