Category Archives: Library Ethics

Mar 20

Patrons Who Suck

When I first entered the library field, I came across a certain society. This society makes LiveJournal their own personal space to complain and rage against their library patrons. At first, I was aghast at the number of people who call themselves librarians, keepers of knowledge and noble public servants, who could get on the Internet and swear and rant about the very people they served.

That was three years ago. Today, I sort of get it.

I maintain that patrons don’t deserve to be lambasted on the Internet, but after spending a considerable amount of time on the reference desk and encountering a wide spectrum of patrons, I can at least see the humor. It was just yesterday, however, that I encountered the first patron I genuinely dislike. And I had a bit of a moral crisis about that.

I don’t hate him, and I don’t treat him differently than my other patrons… I just don’t like seeing him walk in the door, I hope he doesn’t ask me any questions, and then I spend the rest of the time he’s in the library feeling guilty. I shouldn’t dislike a patron, right? I should be the impartial librarian who only cares about the information needs of everyone who walks into the library, who refrains from making personal judgments of any kind, right?

Except he’s never asked me any real reference questions. I’ve never witnessed him making use of the library resources. He just comes to distract the other patrons and myself from our work. Besides, there are almost 7 billion people in the world – statistically it is impossible to like all of them, and statistically it is entirely possible that one of them will wander into the library from time to time. Therefore, it is statistically acceptable to occasionally think a patron sucks, as long as you don’t let them know you think so.

Jan 20

Bookstore moral dilemma

I was at a local bookstore the other day and overheard a customer asking an employee for help finding a book.

“I’ve looked everywhere, it was on that table over there last time, and I bought another book in the series but I don’t know what it’s called or who the author is.”

Intrigued, I inched closer so I could hear the conversation. She revealed that the author’s first name is Kate, and the series is Y.A., and that was all the information she had. The employee said, “well that’s really not giving me anything to go on. I could search the computer for authors named Kate but it’s going to give me a million responses.”

And that was the end of it. He gave up and she walked away frustrated and empty-handed. At that point I had an epic internal struggle as to whether it would be acceptable to say, “excuse me, I purposely eavesdropped on your conversation, but I’m a librarian and I’d love to help you find that book.” Besides, I’m not a bookstore employee. Ultimately I took too long to decide and they left.

I can say that the unhelpful employee missed a golden opportunity to escort the customer to one of the Nooks they had on display, do a Google search for Y.A. authors named Kate, thus illustrating a useful feature of the Nook, then locating the book for her. And I missed an opportunity to demonstrate the value of librarians, even in a non-library setting.

So what do you think, librarians? Would you have helped? Is it okay to step on a retailer’s toes to provide reference service outside the library?

Nov 15

Deceit at the Reference Desk

Steve Ammidown over at Hack Library School recently wrote about “Undercover Library Students” and the assignment that current library students and recent grads will no doubt remember – pose a series of questions to a reference librarian and write about your experience. I did this assignment in library school, and I did find it somewhat helpful. Not nearly as much as the time I spent actually working at a reference desk during my practicum, but this is first-semester ice breaker stuff.

Steve argues that it is unethical to waste a reference librarian’s time chasing after fake queries, and to lie about one’s intent. He also links to a series of posts by Wayne Bivens-Tatum, sounding off on the subject from the perspective of the reference librarian, and I won’t argue that purposefully sending a busy librarian on a wild goose chase is not the most ethically sound library assignment.

However, whether or not a patron is lying to you should not be a factor in how they are treated or the information they receive. There are plenty of situations in which a patron may lie but still need and be entitled to information – “it’s not for me, it’s for a friend”, etc. At its core, the ethic of librarianship is about providing the information requested without bias – whether you’re being lied to or not, whether the patron will use the information or not.

All that being said, I have to wonder at the obvious. If the ethical dilemma is in deceiving and wasting the time of another librarian, why can’t library students complete the assignment based on a real information need? Does it have to be a fake research paper? Surely GRAD STUDENTS have something to research, or at least something they’ve been meaning to look up. I can’t help but think if the assignment was just to utilize a reference librarian to fill an information need, the ethical problems would disappear.

Jul 30

Protection vs. Freedom at the Library

I recently participated in a long debate on information access sparked by none other than 50 Shades of Grey. The issue: is it within the library’s right and/or responsibility to deny children access to “mature” materials?

The Argument in Favor of Denial/Limiting Access

Movies are given ratings by the MPAA which help parents decide whether a film is appropriate for their child, and theaters stand behind those ratings by refusing to admit minors to movies with a rating of R or higher, unless accompanied by an adult. Books should be classified in a similar fashion so that parents will have better control and confidence in the age-appropriateness of their children’s reading selections.

This will only be effective if libraries agree to enforce a parent’s desire to limit access to materials with certain ratings, as the parent cannot be expected to be present and know every item a child checks out. In lieu of a book rating system, which does not currently exist, the librarian should note the parent’s wishes in the child’s record and use their own discretion in allowing certain items like 50 Shades of Grey to be checked out.

The Argument in Favor of Allowing Access

The purpose of the library is to provide access to information, and has never been to make judgments on what information is appropriate for users on an individual basis. Movie theaters are privately owned businesses with the corresponding right to refuse entry, whereas the public library is a government institution ruled by an entirely different set of standards.

The lack of official book rating system makes the task of policing information access all but impossible, and certainly too subjective to be useful (my thoughts on why rating books would be anathema to the mission of libraries will be reserved for another day). One librarian may find the frequently-censored Catcher in the Rye too “mature” for a young patron, while another may object to I Want My Hat Back, a children’s book that sparked moral controversy in 2011. This opens the door for all kinds of outraged parents – equally angry because their children were and were not allowed to access an item – and provides very little in the way of concrete policies and practices to back up the decision-maker.

Libraries can limit access to certain parts of the collection on a broad basis (no internet access, no media, etc.) at the request of the parent, but ultimately it is the parent’s responsibility to know what their child reads, and to set clear guidelines for what they expect their child NOT to read.

Findings on Current Library Policies and Laws

ALA Library Bill of Rights, Section V: “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”

Akron-Summit County Public Library policy (as related to me by a circulation employee): Parents may deny access to the internet, all audio, and/or all visual collections for their children, but it is too time-consuming and subjective to attempt to limit access to the collection any further.

Fountaindale Public Library policy (as gathered from news article): “Librarians are prohibited from blocking the rental of R-rated movies by minors. Not even when the movie in question is obviously not meant for a youngster.” The case in question was the rental of Fight Club to a 15 year old without parental supervision. The library upholds ALA policy and attempts to discourage inappropriate content by separating adult and children’s A/V materials and providing movie reviews with information about content and recommended audiences.

Library of Michigan, Lance M. Werner statement on public libraries and MPAA ratings – “As governmental entities, library boards, employees and agents have no inherent powers. They possess only those limited powers given them by the state… although Michigan’s public libraries must adhere to section 6 of the Michigan Library Privacy Act [CIPA, nationally speaking]… which requires libraries to take steps to prevent minors from accessing obscene or sexually explicit harmful material… on the Internet, it does not authorize libraries to restrict minors access to other library materials. In fact, because there is no legal authority that enables libraries to restrict minor’s access to library materials that fall outside of the purview of section 6, restricting materials could conceivably to considered an infringement of minor’s constitutional rights.”

In closing, you tell ‘em, Lance M. Werner.