Core Competency A

Demonstrate awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions, and discuss the importance of intellectual freedom within that profession

Statement of Competence
To “demonstrate an awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions,” one must first understand those ethics, values, and principles. Working in the field of library and information science is a daily challenge because information professionals speak for the public. This means that while on the clock, an information professional gives up their individual identity in favor of one that speaks for the public. They represent all sides of an argument, not just the one with which the individual information professional agrees. This point relates directly to the first statement in the Library Bill of Rights, a document adopted by the American Library Association in 1939 which spells out the basic principles of all libraries: “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” (ALA, 2016). This quotation sums up the librarian’s duty to their patrons of all backgrounds and belief systems.

The second point of the Bill of Rights builds off of the first: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval” (ALA, 2016). Essentially, this means that the materials offered in a library will not be subject to moral, ethical, or any other type of censorship because all points of view will be equally represented. This is especially poignant in the fields of collection development and public librarianship, but relevant in all library settings. An information professional has a duty to their patrons not to allow their personal opinions or biases get in the way of providing any and all desired information to their patrons. For example, hiding the books about Right Wing politics because one is a Democrat is not upholding the values of the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights. Ethically, information regarding all issues must be equally accessible because there is no predicting who will enter the library from day to day, and what they will want to know.

The second part of Competency A is “the importance of intellectual freedom” within information professions. Intellectual freedom is most simply defined as every individual’s right to seek any information without their access being restricted. The Library Bill of Rights refers to two types of censorship that libraries must resist. First is the more obvious censorship of materials, stating that the institutions “should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment” (ALA, 2016). This statement does not use the term “intellectual freedom,” but the meaning is clear. Libraries must ensure their patrons have the right to access any information. What is objectionable to some might be fascinating or even life saving to others; for example, information on hunting. People with aversions to guns or deeply held vegetarian ideals might not feel that books on hunting belong on library shelves. However, people who live near the forest and need to hunt in order to eat would find that information very useful. The librarian’s ideals might fall on the side of the vegetarian or on the side of the hunter, but it is not the information professional’s place to judge the information their patron seeks. It is their duty simply to provide the information. The other type of censorship, or lack of intellectual freedom, the Bill of Rights discourages is the “abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas” (ALA, 2016). This refers to the behavior of patrons and staff alike, as well as who is allowed to enter the library. It also refers to who may enter the library (“a person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views”) and how public space should be utilized (“such facilities [should be] available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use”) (ALA, 2016).

Competency A espouses the importance of an information professional upholding the ethics and values of the American Library Association’s Bill of Rights in order to provide information to the public in an unbiased manner. The Library Bill of Rights is the most comprehensive document available to illustrate the foundational principles of information science. The most important ethical principles to which a librarian must adhere are not allowing their personal beliefs to get in the way of providing unbiased information, advocating for intellectual freedom, and opposing censorship of any kind.

ALA: American Library Association. (2016). Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf

Evidence
Information Sources Survey
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Description
The first piece of evidence I have included to show my mastery of Competency A is entitled "Information Sources Survey." I completed the assignment while taking LIBR 200: Information Communities in the Fall 2014 semester. In the class, each student chose a physical information community to study throughout the semester. The content of the assignment involves two main parts: examine a specific information community, and then compare it to similar institutions mentioned in peer-reviewed articles and other sources. These sources are meant to serve as a lens through which to view our specific information community. I chose a special collections library, more specifically the Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) at the University of Oregon’s Knight Library. The sources I cite in the essay include five peer-reviewed scholarly articles, a message board from the social media site Reddit, a page from another university’s website, a community-edited Wikipedia page, an entry from a librarian’s personal blog, and a page from the American Library Association’s website. Each source is explained using the following headings: Position within the information cycle; Scope and content (subjects, time period, geographical coverage, etc.); Credential and authority of the author, editor, and/or publisher; Purposes, uses, and intended audience; Design; Currency and frequency of update; Biases and gaps; and Value for your information community. The range of sources from academic to casual illustrate the diversity of communities that a library can affect.

Argument
I feel this assignment represents my understanding and mastery of Competency A because it examines a type of library that exists to provide a specific type of information to the public. In addition, it examines that environment largely from the perspective of community members, not only scholars writing peer-reviewed articles on the subject. Anyone can access Reddit, edit Wikipedia, or start a blog. By including the perspectives of these easily accessible online forums, I have demonstrated the spirit of work in the information profession. The inclusion of five professional articles reminds the reader that finding sources which have been proven reliable is a core aspect of intellectual freedom, and one that information professionals can help with.

The Information Sources Survey assignment proves my competency in the areas of intellectual freedom and the ethics, values, and foundational principles of professions in the field of information science. Over the course of the essay I demonstrate that the SCUA meets the qualifications of information community by presenting evidence from multiple sources of various types. I pinpoint each source’s position within the information cycle, thus demonstrating that I understand the difference between research-based and community-based resources. This concept is important within the parameters of Competency A because part of upholding intellectual freedom and providing information to the public is understanding the different kinds of information available.

The Importance of Merchandising and Furniture in a Young Adult Library Space
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Description
The second piece of evidence that I have gained sufficient knowledge in Competency A is an assignment entitled “The Importance of Merchandising and Furniture in a Young Adult Library Space.” I wrote this essay in the Fall of 2015 for the class INFO 261A: Programs and Services for Young Adults. The objective of the paper is to conceptualize a space in the library where teenagers will feel comfortable and find things that interest them. I use five public libraries as case studies, each of which has been featured in an issue of Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) magazine: Miami-Dade Public Library’s Teen Zone, Spartanburg Public Library’s Teen Room, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County’s Teenspot, and the unnamed young adult areas at Oak Lawn Public Library and Islip Public Library. The paper looks specifically into how to merchandise a teen space so young patrons see more of what the library has to offer, and unconventional furniture that will make young adults feel at home. In terms of merchandising, the paper draws the conclusion that the best way to display materials is not just on shelves with the spines out, but with covers visible in order to interest potential readers. It also concludes that the best type of furniture for a library teen space is not necessarily the same as what one would find in the rest of the library. Instead of simply tables and chairs, young adults exhibit “fugitive posture” that requires odd shaped furniture such as carpeted stages and restaurant-style booths. All five public libraries studied are determined to be taking successful steps toward creating enjoyable spaces for their young adult patrons.


Argument
This paper demonstrates my mastery of Competency A because it upholds the idea of intellectual freedom by conceptualizing a space geared toward a group of people who are sometimes discriminated against so that they will feel comfortable in the library and therefore have equal access to information. The focus on merchandising materials so that the covers are visible not only creates an aesthetically pleasing look for the teen area, it also brings young patrons’ attention to information sources that they may not have known to ask for, but that they want or need. This is an example of Competency A’s emphasis on the ethics and values of information professions, specifically public librarianship. It is a librarian’s duty to make sure all information is equally available, and that all patrons have equal access to it. Teenagers notoriously have shorter attention spans than adults, and might be unfamiliar with how to look up materials in the catalogue or unwilling to speak with a staff member. By merchandising diverse materials in an eye catching manner, as is detailed in “The Importance of Merchandising and Furniture in a Young Adult Library Space,” patrons browsing the young adult space are exposed to more of the library’s materials.

This paper also focuses on how to set up a young adult space with furniture that will be comfortable for teenagers with “fugitive posture.” This term, mentioned in Bernier and Males’ article “YA Spaces and the End of Postural Tyranny,” essentially refers to any posture young people exhibit that adults would consider abnormal. It can be anything from sitting in a recliner with one leg up on the armrest, to using stairs for seating instead of ascending or descending, to sitting on a table and resting one’s feet on the chair below it. Fugitive posture is a habit among teenagers because adolescence is one large transition. Teenagers are in the process of figuring out where they fit in the world mentally, but also physically. They experiment with how their body moves in space, and are usually not comfortable sitting with their backs straight and both feet planted firmly on the floor. The essay talks about alternative furniture that youth services librarians might consider adding to a teen area, which is another reason it demonstrates my knowledge of Competency A. The principle of intellectual freedom means that every individual has a right to information without restriction. For many teenagers, the fact that a library only has straight-back chairs and tables might be so restricting that they do not want to spend time in that environment, and therefore do not find the information they need. By designating an area of the library for adolescents who need a different type of environment than both child and adult patrons, a library is making room for an entire age group to exercise their right to information.

Meeting Teens Where They Live: Social Media as a Benefit to the Library
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Description
My third piece of evidence for Competency A is entitled “Meeting Teens Where They Live: Social Media as a Benefit to the Library.” I completed the assignment while taking INFO 265: Materials for Young Adults, in the Summer 2016 semester. The paper recognizes the prevalence of technology such as the internet and smartphones in the lives of young adults and presents a three step progression for librarians to incorporate the way teens use technology into their library’s everyday sources and services. The first step is to figure out exactly how technology influences the lives of most young people. Second, understand how this influence will affect the way the teens interact with the library and its employees. Third, find out how these interactions affect the library as a whole. I present teenagers as a catalyst who will influence their family and friends to utilize the library as well, if the library presents itself to the teens in a way to which they will positively respond. I use scholarly sources to explain why young adults live the majority of their lives on social media, from keeping up with long-distance friends to only having time to socialize digitally between school, extracurricular activities, and part-time jobs. There is even a psychological correlation between the adolescent brain and a large amount of time spent on social media. Because of their strong connection to these social sites, my paper makes a case for libraries to advertise and perform outreach online. This way, teenagers will see it where they “live” and be more motivated to visit the library. The main idea of this assignment was to make a case for libraries to jump into modern technology with both feet in order to gain more tech-savvy patrons. It does this by understanding the most technologically-informed generation and helping the reader understand how to reach out to that generation and interest them in library services.

Argument
Similar to “The Importance of Merchandising and Furniture in a Young Adult Library Space,” “Meeting Teens Where They Live” demonstrates my mastery of Competency A by explaining ways that a forgotten group can be provided effective service at the library. Ensuring that everyone who enters the library has equal access to information not only includes the type and visibility of materials as well as patrons’ physical comfort, but also the level at which they are able to access information. As detailed in the essay, most adolescents spend a large amount of time on the internet. It then makes sense that a library staff should attempt to make their services available in a technological forum.

“Meeting Teens Where They Live” predominantly mentions advertisements for library programs and events, which is another way of promoting equal spread of information even though it is outside the library itself. Hanging paper posters on physical bulletin boards is still an effective way to advertise in many circles, but according to the sources mentioned in my paper, modern teenagers are more likely to be online than in a coffee shop or community center where they might see a paper advertisement. Equal distribution of information applies to all aspects of library work, from what patrons see to how they see it. This essay demonstrates that I understand Competency A because at the core, it is a paper about encouraging library staff to familiarize themselves with an important aspect of their patrons’ lives in order to better serve them in ways that uphold the foundational principles of the Library Bill of Rights and the profession of library and information science.

Conclusion
The path I have chosen to follow during my time in the SJSU program is public librarianship, with an emphasis on young adult services. Within this profession, it is imperative to uphold the ideals of intellectual freedom as presented by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights because a public librarian must serve the public of their community without discrimination of patrons or materials. Working with the public makes adhering to the ideals of the Library Bill of Rights a complex task, because encountering patrons with conflicting values and opinions is a daily occurrence in a public library. I plan to apply my knowledge of intellectual freedom within information professions to my various future work environments by providing diverse materials applicable to all interest levels and information needs. I believe this is crucial to a successful career as a public services librarian.