Foundations in Library and Information Science

Reflection

This course was my first introduction to library school, and the first in my journey towards this Master's degree. It surveyed a wide variety of topics in the field of librarianship, and highlighted the importance for me of concrete, real world experience. At the time, I was one of few in my class who was working in a library (as an assistant reference librarian in a public library). As I learned new concepts and theories, for example research about user instruction and adult technology instruction (included below), I could immediately apply them to my professional practice. This has continued to be a key understanding throughout my educational journey.

This course included significant conversations on the subject of ethics in librarianship, including our duty to uphold copyright. That conversation has stuck with me, especially when I experienced the real life example of a patron coming into the library, checking out 20 CDs and proceeding to rip them to his computer right there in the library. That was a situation where it was important to intervene. I found, through conversation, that the patron had no idea he was doing something wrong and he was happy to discuss the issue with me. Ultimately, I was most interested in the concept of service, which I explored in an essay on ethics. Here's a brief excerpt:

Service is what drew me to the profession of librarianship. I work in libraries because I want to do work that makes the world a better, more fair and just place. Libraries accomplish those goals every day; they are an institution in our communities, a paragon of social justice in a world that has mostly abandoned equality for profit and efficiency. To truly live up to our ethic, to serve people with equality, we must provide our patrons with the service they need, not just what is easiest. Providing ethical service gives this work meaning and importance.

I continue to believe that my job and my work is to provide people the service that they need, which means saying yes to any and all requests from teachers, guiding my students towards deeper thinking and learning, and inspiring everyone to read widely.