Advocacy, Outreach and the Nations Academic Libraries: A Call for Action

Library technicians , library assistants , and library associates not to be confused with academic rank of Assistant Librarian or Associate Librarian may have diplomas but usually do not hold library-related degrees. Occasionally they also hold undergraduate or graduate degrees in other disciplines. These workers, sometimes referred to as para-professionals , perform duties such as database management, library cataloging , ready reference, and serials and monograph processing. There are three ways in which these requirements can be met: Professional Australian teacher-librarians require slightly different qualifications.

In addition to having a degree that meets ALIA's accreditation process, teacher librarians must also hold recognized teaching qualifications. School librarians often are required to have a teaching credential ; however, an additional library science degree is not generally required. In the United Kingdom and some other countries, a librarian can have a three- or four-year bachelor's degree in Library Science; separate master's degrees in librarianship, archive management, and records management are also available.

The increasing role of technology in libraries has a significant impact on the changing roles of librarians. New technologies are dramatically increasing the accessibility of information, and librarians are adapting to the evolving needs of users that emerge from the adoption of these new technologies. One of the most significant examples of how technology has changed the role of librarians in the last 50 years has been the move from traditional card catalogs to online public access catalogs OPACs.

They had to teach the public how to use the new technologies and move to more virtual working environments. The same could be said of other technology developments, from electronic databases including the Internet , to logistical functions such as bar codes or in the near future RFID. Many librarians provide virtual reference services via web-based chat, instant messaging, text messaging, and e-mail , [52] work in digitizing initiatives for works in the public domain, teach information literacy and technology classes to their users, and work on the development of information architectures for improving access and search functionality.

These examples illustrate some of the ways in which librarians are using technology to fulfill and expand upon their historical roles. Librarians must continually adapt to new formats for information, such as electronic journals and e-books , which present both challenges and opportunities in providing access and promoting them to library patrons. Increasing technological advance has presented the possibility of automating some aspects of traditional libraries.

This robot is able to navigate the library, look for the specified book, and upon its discovery, carefully take it from the shelf and deliver it to the user. Recently over libraries in the United States have begun adding 3D printers to their collections in an effort to expose the public to cutting edge technology. See also the List of Library Associations. Recent issues of concern for U.

Many librarians around the world share American librarians' concern over ethical issues surrounding censorship and privacy. Librarians in the United States who as political actors in our times provide examples of a commitment to equality, the right to know or social justice include Peter Chase, George Christian, Janet Nocek, and Barbara Bailey. In the Doe v. Gonzales case, these librarians challenged the constitutionality of the nondisclosure provisions of the National Security Letters issued by the government under the USA Patriot Act in terrorist or other investigations.

Deaf people at the library have the same needs as every other person visiting the library and often have more difficulty accessing materials and services. Over the last few decades, libraries in the United States have begun to implement services and collections for Deaf patrons and are working harder every year to make more of their collections, services, their communities, and even the world more accessible to this group of under served people. The history of the role of libraries in the Deaf community in the United States is a sordid one at best.

The American Library Association readily admits that disabled people belong to a minority that is often overlooked and underrepresented by people in the library, and the Deaf community belongs in this minority group. One of the first activists in the library community working toward accessibility for the Deaf was Alice Hagemeyer. When disabled communities began demanding equality in the s, Hagemeyer decided to go back to school for her master's degree in library science. While she was studying there, she realized that there was not very much information about the Deaf community at her library or at the libraries of any of her classmates.

Hagemeyer also constructed a manual of resources for Deaf people and those associated with them called The Red Notebook , [71] which is now online at the website of the Friends of Libraries for Deaf Action. Hagemeyer was one of the first library activists to make strides for the Deaf community. New guidelines from library organizations such as International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions IFLA and the ALA were written in order to help libraries make their information more accessible to people with disabilities, and in some cases, specifically the Deaf community.

Most of the guidelines pertain to ensuring that Deaf patrons have equal access to all available library services. Other guidelines include training library staff to provide services for the Deaf community, availability of text telephones or TTYs not only to assist patrons with reference questions but also for making outside calls, using the most recent technology in order to communicate more effectively with Deaf patrons, including closed captioning services for any television services, and developing a collection that would interest the members of the Deaf community. Over the years, library services have begun to evolve in order to accommodate the needs and desires of local Deaf communities.

The QBPL hired a deaf librarian, Lori Stambler, to train the library staff about Deaf culture, to teach sign language classes for family members and people who are involved with deaf people, and to teach literacy classes for Deaf patrons. In working with the library, Stambler was able to help the community reach out to its deaf neighbors, and helped other deaf people become more active in their outside community.

The library at Gallaudet University , the only Deaf liberal arts university in the United States, was founded in The collection is so large that the library had to create a hybrid classification system based on the Dewey Decimal Classification System in order to make cataloging and location within the library much easier for both library staff and users.

The program was created in in response to information accessibility issues for the Deaf in the Nashville area. Originally, the only service provided was the news via a teletypewriter or TTY, but today, the program has expanded to serving the entire state of Tennessee by providing all different types of information and material on deafness, Deaf culture, and information for family members of Deaf people, as well as a historical and reference collection.

Librarianship manifests a dual career structure for men and women in the United States. In , 83 percent of librarians were women. Women, however, have made continuous progress toward equality.

In , Theresa Elmendorf became the first woman elected president of the American Library Association which was founded in ; she was also the first woman ever to be nominated for this position. The Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship COSWL of the American Library Association, [85] founded in , represents the diversity of women's interest within ALA and ensures that the Association considers the rights of the majority women in the library field, and promotes and initiates the collection, analysis, dissemination, and coordination of information on the status of women in librarianship.

The bibliographic history of women in U. The Association also encourages librarians to proactively support the First Amendment rights of all library users, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Adopted , amended , , , ALA encourages all American Library Association chapters to take active stands against all legislative or other government attempts to proscribe materials related to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression; and encourages all libraries to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society.

Adopted , Amended , Role of Women in Librarianship, — Ellsworth Editor , published Stereotypes of librarians in popular culture are frequently negative: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other uses, see The Librarian disambiguation. This section needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. July Learn how and when to remove this template message. Librarians in popular culture. Foundations of Library and Information Science. Its Philosophy and History. Asia Publishing House p.

IFLA Leaders Programme: Library Advocacy Toolkit

Libraries and Librarianship in the West: Sixth Annual Mary C. Richardson Lecture, May 3, History of Libraries in the Western World. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Winter, "The professionalization of librarianship. Graduate School of Library and Information Science ; no. Wilensky, "The Professionalization of Everyone?

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Retrieved December 9, The main plank of government policy towards libraries is to shift them into the voluntary sector. This shift in strategy is reflected in the new Cipfa figures: Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. Careers in a Library. Archived from the original on February 12, Retrieved April 1, Archived from the original on Introduction to Public Librarianship.

Dictionary for Library and Information Science.

Find a copy in the library

Retrieved 18 September Australian Library and Information Association. The role of public libraries in e-government and emergency situations - Bertot - First Monday". The Librarian of Future Digital Library". International Journal of Information Dissemination and Technology. Retrieved 22 April An Education and Training Experience". Issues for librarians in Victoria's public libraries". From a lack of knowledge to an appreciation of Deaf history. Guidelines for library services to deaf people Report no. International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Deaf-advocacy at Queens Borough PL. American Libraries, 26 6 , — The Deaf collection at the Gallaudet University Library. Education Libraries, 22 3 , Tennessee Libraries, 56 1 , 51— Department for Professional Employees. Retrieved 25 October The Role of women in librarianship, — Reclaiming the American library past: Her new role also meant an increased participation in the American Library Association; in —12 she served as its President, the first woman to hold that position.

The Identity Politics of the Librarian Stereotype". Deconstructing Perceptions and Presentations of Information Work.

Area Studies Librarianship Workshop

Association of College and Research Libraries Press. Retrieved from " https: Library occupations Library science Librarians. Views Read Edit View history. In other projects Wikimedia Commons. This page was last edited on 10 December , at By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. I send along documentation, neatly packaged in a Box folder, explaining some of the unique elements of our program. Maybe, in the future, we can find a way to connect them, in a contest or through our Editorial Boards. As many others have said more eloquently than I could , everyday in libraries we make decisions about how to spend our resources: What we choose to spend that money on is an inherently political act.

Recognizing it as a form of activism, students at the University of Virginia used our purchase request system to ask that the library add more materials by underrepresented voices to our collections. As a subject librarian, collection development is a surprisingly small part of my job. A centralized collections team manages our approval plans and once a year subject liaisons review them to make sure they still align with departmental interests and priorities. We also have an automated purchase request system that patrons can use to request items for the library.

Beyond those two responsibilities, my involvement in collection development is minimal. A few weeks ago, a graduate student in the Music Department approached me about co-organizing an event to teach people how to use the purchase request feature while simultaneously requesting books by marginalized authors and independent presses be added to our collection. From the patron perspective, our collection development process is opaque and this discussion made it a lot more transparent. We posted large print-outs of the list on the wall and asked participants to check off items when they submitted a request.

Participants filtered in and out during the two hour event, with some staying and submitting multiple purchase requests and others dropping in to submit one or two. Our collections and acquisitions teams helped facilitate this event on the backend. Before the event, we talked about whether our normal purchase request budget would be sufficient to cover an event like this, and I shared the list with them in advance to give them a rough estimate of the number of requests to expect.

We also added a designation to each item that was requested so that the acquisitions team could track which requests were coming in as part of the event. All told, we ended up submitting purchase requests for close to fifty items. Building diverse collections is, as AJ Robinson pointed out , imperative if we want to be the inclusive and welcoming institutions we strive to be. We need to have books by and about people from historically marginalized groups if we want them to feel as though the library is for them, too. Having these materials on hand also means that more people will engage with them.

We are undergoing the beginning of a renovation right now and through a series of preparatory focus groups and meetings many people have emphasized how essential browsing is to their research processes. Hopefully, by having these books in our catalog and on our shelves, faculty and students will be more likely to use them in their courses and research. This event also revealed gaps in our collection, particularly in disability and indigenous studies.

I hope we can use this knowledge to revisit our approval plans to see how we could collect more intentionally in these areas. This was my first experience doing outreach to encourage patron driven acquisition and using it as a tool to encourage more inclusive collections. And how often did they discuss the perils and pitfalls of getting everyone in your library to be enthusiastic about storytelling?

Pure, unadulterated, non-stop, advocacy. As librarians, we are all too familiar with the constant need to promote, market, advocate for, and tell our story. We are always highlighting the many services and resources we offer. And we are always making the case for the continued need for libraries in society. The ways in which we tell our stories are often not grandiose. For example, perhaps we advocate via email with colleagues about information literacy, or explain to family and friends at social events that we can indeed help them find information on that topic, or perhaps we even market the latest database, tool, resource, or service to our local newspapers.

Advocacy comes naturally to the professional librarian. At least it does for me.

They might be student workers, professional support staff, clerks, or even pages. And while they may be very skilled and proficient at their jobs, they simply might not view each interaction as an opportunity for advocacy. Getting buy-in from all staff regarding the atmosphere you would like to promote is key to ensuring memorable user experiences.

Outreach Division

And to me, that means enhancing the user experience at every possible moment. In fact, it will display to patrons that every library worker carries within them a little spark of the spirit of librarianship. I know getting system-wide buy in for this might be a daunting task. Perhaps not even all staff will be receptive to listening to my ideas — territorial issues abound, after all, in any organization. What I try to keep in mind during these conversations, though, is being open to staff ideas and suggestions on any and all library-related issues.

I also try to investigate what the library means to them, and to use their own paradigm as a starting point to investigate how the user experience can be enhanced from their point-of-view. And the best way to ensure positive user experience is to try and get all employees engaged in the same spirit of librarianship that is harbored by those of us who are impassioned if sometimes overzealous. Advocacy has implications for all libraries, but there are some special considerations for the academic library.

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Libraries ensconced on a college campus have opportunities and obligations to collaborate with other university departments as well as campus administrators. Not only will the quality of user experience be enhanced, but if the time comes for changes to be made or suggested by campus administrators, perhaps a robust advocacy strategy will ensure the best possible outcome. This topic might also appeal to librarians in other countries who are looking to us with great interest and might also have reasons to engage with politics as professionals.

As we cannot and should not push partisan politics on our patrons, the best we can do for patrons is to provide as much information and education as possible to voters, and to help encourage people to exercise their right and responsibility to vote. As librarians, we are expected to remain neutral and presumably, then, also nonpartisan especially when patrons are researching topics that are controversial or contested. Instead, patrons should be able to freely research the facts and evidence, and come to reasonable conclusions on their own.

We can guide them during that process, and help them find information and distinguish between information that is good — information that incorporates sound evidence — and information that is bad, oftentimes because it distorts the facts. However, neutrality is a myth. As have many before me have done, I have written more extensively about the myth of neutrality , especially as it relates to peer review, elsewhere.

Besides, to not have an opinion is to silently accept things as they are. No matter what we say, our opinions will influence the types of sources that we point patrons to, and the ways in which we evaluate information with patrons. So it is extremely important that we are mindful of our opinions and seek to counterbalance those by presenting patrons with multiple viewpoints, all the while modeling careful, thoughtful evaluation. We will have opinions, and that is a good thing as long as they are supported by evidence. To refrain from having an opinion, or to withhold it if we are asked to share it, would be tantamount to tacit acceptance of the status quo.

By supporting the status quo, neutral librarians, or librarians who remain silent when asked for their opinions, implicitly support structures of power and privilege that are in place, structures that are oftentimes unjust and harmful, since we do live in an imperfect society. Thus, librarians can and should have opinions about history and politics. Having a social justice orientation aligns with our professional ethics , which require us to make information available to all people regardless of their identity or the ways in which they are privileged or marginalized.

Furthermore, knowledge is power, and by facilitating the processes of knowledge and understanding, we are empowering people and contributing to democratic processes. But in order to support these processes for all patrons, some fundamental beliefs and values are implied, many of which are also principles supported by the founding documents of our nation: What are our obligations to our patrons given these universal values and beliefs that our profession, too, specifically seeks to uphold? First of all, we can help voters come to informed conclusions and make informed choices.

To be political and encourage politics is different from pushing political positions. There are so many things we can do to help educate voters that do not involve telling people who to vote for or who not to vote for. We can provide patrons with the tools with which they can figure things out on their own — figure out which candidates align with their politics and their values.

How else are librarians political?