Librarianship encompasses multiple roles. Librarians are information locators, information organizers, information disseminators, information evaluators, information caretakers, etc. These roles are unified by a common purpose: meeting users’ information needs. At least in part, librarianship is defined by that unifying goal to satisfy the information needs of users. This goal, in turn, reflects a deeper commitment. Librarians help users meet their information needs based on a broader concern for the public good and the well-being of individuals and communities. In other words, satisfying information needs is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means of making a positive contribution to the quality of human lives. For example, the librarian is committed to equal access and intellectual freedom, since both these principles promote the public good by upholding democratic principles. In a more general sense, librarianship involves “caring about people, solving human problems, and improving lives” (Rubin, 2004, p. 481).
This conception of librarianship highlights the user-centered, service-oriented nature of the profession. Librarianship is about serving the user. The user is the orienting point of reference that guides everything librarians do. Certain principles and values follow from this conception of librarianship – principles and values that form the core of my professional philosophy.
As a future academic librarian, I understand that the patron is the reason and justification for everything I do. This understanding naturally entails a way of treating users. To the best of my ability, I will use words, tone of voice, body language, and attention to let the patron know that I care about her information problem and that I am happy to be of service.
My commitment to a user-centered conception of librarianship has ramifications beyond my behavior with patrons. It also affects the effort and care I invest in all job related activities. Much of what librarians do is invisible to users. And yet these “behind the scenes” operations are what make library services possible. Because I value users and recognize that all library operations ultimately serve users, I am committed to the highest standards of performance regardless of the task at hand.
In addition to these two core principles, my professional philosophy encompasses additional commitments.
I am committed to ongoing assessment and evaluation. In order to best meet the needs of users, I need to know what, in fact, users need. I need to know how effective current resources and services are at meeting those needs. I need to have data in order to plan service improvements. Assessment and evaluation are essential to a user-centered approach to librarianship.
I am committed to making research-based decisions when evaluating or developing resources or services. Given the importance of accurately understanding the user’s perspective, I will not rely on subjective impressions when planning service changes or improvements. I will rely on empirical data, whether gathered from professional or scholarly sources or from my own research.
I am committed to collaboration. Providing the best services possible requires the productivity and creativity that emerge from the combined effort of a group. Because I put users’ needs first, I embrace collaboration and welcome the ideas and contributions of colleagues. This commitment to collaboration will extend to my work with faculty. I will listen to faculty needs and work with faculty to help meet those needs.
I recognize that I am part of a larger community of professionals that establishes (through professional associations and organizations) standards and guidelines. I take my membership in that community seriously and therefore strive to uphold the standards of my profession to the best of my ability.
I am committed to intellectual freedom. I will build collections that encourage the free flow of information by representing diverse points of view. I recognize that intellectual freedom requires setting aside personal biases and preferences to make collection development decisions based on professional standards and a commitment to the value of diversity.
I am motivated by a sense of social responsibility – the desire to contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of communities. In part, this desire is based on my first-hand experience of the economic inequalities in my own community. I have extensive experience working and volunteering in elementary schools in Watsonville, California. The students I serve are overwhelmingly Hispanic, second-language learners, from economically disadvantaged families. Still struggling with English, they enter school at a disadvantage. Many become discouraged learners who will eventually drop out of high school. Those who do manage to complete high school often do so without the basic skills they need to succeed in college.
As a volunteer in one of my local schools, I do what little I can to make a difference. As an academic librarian, I will take steps to help students from underprivileged backgrounds that make it to college. These students are often unprepared to do college-level work. In order to help them succeed, I will develop resources and information literacy instruction aimed at reaching this specific population. By helping students be academically successful, I hope to contribute to their future economic and social well-being.
As an academic librarian, I will contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of individuals and communities in a more general sense. Academic librarians support the mission of the university as a whole. That mission involves educating students and giving them the knowledge and skills they need to be successful, productive, and informed participants in democratic processes. The university’s mission also involves supporting scholarly research that contributes to human knowledge. By helping to build collections that preserve and make accessible the highest intellectual and artistic achievements of humankind, and by supporting student learning and faculty research, I support the mission of the university and thereby contribute to the cultural, economic, educational, and social well-being of individuals and, ultimately, those individuals’ communities.
Reference
Rubin, R. (2004). Foundations of library and information science. New York: Neal-Schuman.