Abstract
AbstractOver the past few years, tensions between two core values in U.S. librarianship, intellectual freedom and social justice, have roiled the profession. This conflict was most recently seen in the insertion and subsequent removal of “hate groups” to the list of entities that cannot be denied access to library meeting rooms in the American Library Association’s Meeting Rooms Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. This paper is intended to provide context for this conflict. It begins by situating its arguments within ethical philosophy, specifically the study of values or axiology. It then provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of the values of liberalism. Next, the paper discusses the values of truth and freedom from harm in librarianship. Finally, it suggests that a fuller understanding of the library’s place within the public sphere is a possible model for mitigating the tensions currently found in American librarianship. The paper is intended to provide a theoretical foundation for further research.
Highlights
The summer of 2018 was a contentious one for librarianship in the United States
Over the past few years, tensions between two core values in U.S librarianship, intellectual freedom and social justice, have roiled the profession. This conflict was most recently seen in the insertion and subsequent removal of “hate groups” to the list of entities that cannot be denied access to library meeting rooms in the American Library Association’s Meeting Rooms Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
First adopted in 1939, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights (LBR) is a set of guidelines that state what users can expect from libraries
Summary
The summer of 2018 was a contentious one for librarianship in the United States. First adopted in 1939, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Bill of Rights (LBR) is a set of guidelines that state what users can expect from libraries. How this language was added to the interpretation remains unclear and it was eventually removed, the addition of the term “hate groups” set off a firestorm of discussion both online and off In her regular column for American Libraries magazine, which is published by the ALA, Meredith Farkas (2018) stated that this incident demonstrated a collision of values in librarianship. This paper is intended to provide context for the perceived conflict between intellectual freedom and social justice in American librarianship It begins by situating its arguments within ethical philosophy, the study of values or axiology. The paper is intended to provide a theoretical foundation for further research
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