The parking lot at my favorite Starbucks in Santa Ana, California
has short, inspirational sayings painted on a quite a few of the parking
spaces. Tonight, I pulled into one that said,
“Do what you love.” This immediately
sparked reflections on my career and how thankful I am for having spent the
last 40 years working in academic libraries and how I am looking forward to
continuing that work for at least another ten
years, hopefully at a place where I can make a significant impact for students
and faculty.
Recently a Hispanic graduate
student in cultural anthropology that I got to know during my time at Cal State
Fullerton asked me if I had time for a 15-minute phone call so he could ask me a
couple of questions about being a librarian. I suggested instead that we meet
for coffee to talk. What ensued was a three-hour
conversation about libraries, librarianship, and opportunities to do things we are
both passionate about.
One of the many things that I enjoy about the library profession
is that the whole world is your oyster. It is perfectly acceptable to have
interest and expertise on politics, religion, mechanics, art, music, current
issues, and pretty much anything else under the sun, as well as typical library
things like cataloging, book selection, etc. While each of us over the years develops sets of expertise, librarians, tend to
be renaissance men and women.
Working at large institutions, we are often limited in the
individual, and personal impact that we can make on students and faculty, and I
love when I can make a connection that
makes a difference. I really enjoy talking
to students, especially those whose background and experience might be quite different from mine. I find their stories
and life experiences to be both interesting and inspiring. If you think that
the world and the country is going to “hell in a hand-basket” then sit down with
some of the wonderful students that
populate our campuses. They are
intellectually curious and are interested in making the world a better place. Include
international students in the conversation; they will enrich your understanding
of the world.
Tomorrow is July 4th, and
most of the United States will celebrate with passion, food, and fireworks. As
an immigrant to this country, I approach this holiday with both happiness and
sense of trepidation. As I reflect on the famous phrase “life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness,” I am keenly aware
that not everyone in the country is able to
avail themselves of these three ideals
from the Declaration of Independence.” Some
of this inability to enjoy these benefits comes from prejudice, economic
disparity, and in some cases outright hatred of “others” that are deemed not to
belong to this great country. As the Father of four adopted immigrant children
from Colombia in South America, I am only too aware how these Hispanic children
have been treated differently from their white peers. As the United States is a
country built on the immigrant experience, I am hoping for better from myself,
and from the rest of the country in the year ahead.
In a recent interview, I was asked about “social justice” and the role
that libraries and librarians play. It is an interesting question to reflect
on, as libraries have a role to provide information to all and, to the best of
their ability, represent all sides of issues.
Libraries are committed to raising the voices of all members of
society, and when voices are silenced due
to discrimination, legal action, bigotry, or ignorance, then librarians tend to
step to the front line to advocate for those whose voices, for whatever reason have been
silenced. In advocating for these
voices, it is impossible and sometimes prejudicial to separate access to
information from the people who need it. For example,
if a library only advocates for including
LGBTQ literature in its collections but stays silent on local or national
ordinances that discriminate against LGBTQ individuals, the voices that the
Library is advocating for, in many ways are still silent.
I just spent the last four years as a member of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom
Committee. It is easy to see issues of social justice in most of the policies,
briefings, and interpretations that we worked on.
Examples include: “religion in libraries”, which
specified that libraries build broad and inclusive collections that support the
religious traditions of all the members of the community; “services to people
with disabilities” that created guidelines on providing equitable access to
facilities, collections, and services; “library meeting rooms” with guidelines
to ensure that all member groups in the community have access to the space; and
“controversial speakers” which provided information on provide an inclusive
environment that protected First Amendment rights for all community members,
regardless of their views.
At the recent American Library Association conference, New
Orleans, a resolution was passed honoring those African American librarians who
fought segregation in libraries and
included an acknowledgment that ALA had,
in the past, been complicit because of not speaking out against segregation.
Social justice is a library issue. Librarians are social justice
people.
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Happy July 4th – Celebrate, eat too much, and enjoy the fireworks.
Find something you love and do it. Find a cause that makes the
world a better and more just place and work for it.
Find a Librarian and thank them for the work they do in serving
everyone.
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