A Few Thoughts on Graduating from the University of Alabama

The Library Land Project is one of the most unexpected and wonderful things that has happened to me. A wonderfully unexpected result of Library Land was earning my Masters of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. When I walked across that stage in Tuscaloosa on December 11, it was with equal parts pride and astonishment.

My studies provided an opportunity to think more deeply about libraries - and to frame that thinking in a variety of contexts I’d never considered in the past. The things I learned at Alabama have made me a keener and more informed observer of life in library land. They have also created new opportunities around the work we do at the Library Land Project, and for me personally, as I think about my own professional path in librarianship.

As my time at Alabama drew to a close, I was asked to reflect on my library philosophy. What appears below is a modified version of what I shared with my professors.

A Library’s Doors Should Open to Embrace Everyone

In traveling to libraries around the country, some of the most vital ones we’ve seen are reaching out beyond their current patrons by challenging the assumption of who library users are, and who they could be. 

Everyone who walks or rolls through a library’s doors - regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, housing status, language, physical or mental abilities, age, political persuasion, or any other reason one may imagine for being anything less than helpful and attentive) - should be embraced, made to feel not simply accommodated, but truly welcomed. That is something Adam and I experience often in our library travels. As two affable middle-aged white guys, privilege is almost certainly part of the equation. It shouldn’t be. 

During a course on the role of  information in communities, I came across a quote by the author Mary Antin:

“It was my habit to go very slowly up the low, broad steps to the palace entrance, pleasing my eyes with the majestic lines of the building, and lingering to read again the carved inscription: Public Library - Built by the People - Free to All. Did I not say it was my palace? Mine, because I was a citizen; mine, though I was born an alien . . . My palace - mine!. . . All these eager, all these fine browed women, all these scholars going home to write learned books - I and they had this glorious thing in common, this noble treasure house of learning. It was wonderful to say, This is mine; it was thrilling to say, This is ours.” 

Libraries are all of ours, and everyone who enters (and even those who don’t) should understand this fact. This is true even of those who might not use or value the library. 

This point was made clear in August of 2021 when I attended the groundbreaking of a new library in Greenfield Massachusetts. Along with those celebrating the new library, there was also a group of protesters. As the director spoke, they tried to shout her down. Despite the distraction, she steeled herself and said loudly and clearly that this new library would be there to welcome all, even those who were opposed to its opening.

Free and Equitable Access to Information for All

The idea of free and equitable access to information was a point made repeatedly during my studies. It is key to how I think about libraries.

Unpacking the ideas of “free” and “equitable” presents some interesting questions. An important aspect of free and equitable relates to information access - but perhaps not in the way it is often understood. Libraries serve a vital role for their communities by providing the means to access information. In many cases, that has meant connectivity - whether in the library or, increasingly, via WiFi hotspots that can be borrowed like books or other resources. Addressing connectivity is only half the battle.

Is access equitable if someone lacks the technical proficiency or information literacy skills to make sense of the information they need? In a world changed by the pandemic, with so much of life taking place online, people without those skills are at a disadvantage.

We’ve seen first-hand how important even basic access to technology has become. In Yutan, Iowa, the director talked about retooling library space and services to better meet the needs of the community’s growing number of homeschooled students. In Buffalo, New York, a reference librarian told me about people calling the library to ask when they could get into the building to access technology. And in Wichita, Kansas, a library worker explained that most of his days were spent helping people figure out how to access the services they needed. In all these cases, the computer was more than a gray box, it was a critical link - and librarians were central to making connections.

Before the Internet, when information was scarce, one role of the library was to help people locate what they needed. As instant access to information has become possible to everyone, all the time, libraries were sometimes seemingly relegated to helping people use technology tools more effectively. There is another, higher-level role libraries can play, and that is to promote information literacy by helping people locate, evaluate, understand, contextualize, and use the resources they need.

Libraries Provide the Greatest Benefit to the Most People

One element of the ALA Bill of Rights I found especially interesting is its second point: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” It seemingly presents the library as a neutral repository of information. This has never sat well with me.

The idea that any library could ever contain “all points of view on current and historical issues” is absurd. Does that mean that every library should shelve a “flatlas” next to an atlas and present both as equally valid? One hopes not! So how to choose? This goes beyond collections development, down to a level of what do we represent? What should we represent? How do we discover and address the unrecognized needs in our communities?

In a fair and equitable world, neutrality could be a wonderful thing. But our world isn’t fair, and it sure isn’t equitable. To support “neutrality” in a problematic system is to perpetuate an unjust status quo, and that is unacceptable. If libraries must make choices (and they must), let them be guided by the idea of justice.

Justice doesn’t mean making the most people happy. It means everyone - even those who are marginalized (especially those who are marginalized) - is considered and supported by their library. 

Libraries, Be Proud!

The final tenet of my library philosophy is that libraries should be proud of the work they do and shouldn’t be shy about talking about it. There is a difference between promoting specific projects and programs (something libraries are great at sharing through newsletters, social media, and message boards) and speaking to the importance of libraries more broadly. To speak only of what libraries are doing allows much of that effort to be dismissed by those not immediately impacted by the work.

The social value of libraries - as distinct from their information value - is critical and should be celebrated. Libraries are the sole civic institutions open equally to all. They continue to be among the most trusted institutions. During polarized times, libraries are well-positioned to bring people together; and many are doing that. 

The first time we encountered this was at the Wilmington Memorial Library, in Wilmington, Massachusetts. A month-long series of adult programming around civic discourse had taken place, and we were wowed by the thought and effort that went into it. 

During our first visit to the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, Massachusetts, we learned that the library’s focus was shifting from promoting civic engagement to supporting the area’s LGBTQIA community. As the library director, Deb Spratt (now also a Library Land Project board member) explained, there were few services/resources for this community in the region, and she recognized this as a need the library could help meet.

​Recognizing the deeper value of public libraries - and promoting it broadly - needs to be a part of every library’s mission. It’s certainly something we do whenever we speak to library groups, consult with libraries, and engage with the media. My studies at the University of Alabama added so much to my understanding of the place and function of public libraries, as well as the challenges libraries face. That grounding, combined with the first-hand observation of hundreds of libraries, makes me more excited about the work we do at the Library Land Project. 

So many thanks to the University of Alabama, my cohort, family, friends, nonprofit and library workers - and, of course, Adam - for making all of this possible!