by Helen R. Adams, January 2014

Every profession has an ethical code; librarians have the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association. It was established by the ALA Council in 1939 and last updated in 2008. The eight articles of the ALA Code offer guiding principles on:

• providing quality service,
• defending intellectual freedom,
• protecting privacy,
• respecting intellectual property,
• acting collegially toward co-workers,
• not promoting individual interests,
• not allowing personal convictions to influence professional decisions, and
• maintaining a high level of professional knowledge (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics).

USING THE CODE OF ETHICS

All librarians face ethical dilemmas, and the Code has guided their actions for nearly seventy-five years. According to Veanna Baxter, a retired Pennsylvania school librarian, “The ALA Code is a standard that is helpful when we face an [ethical] dilemma and must make a decision. Having an authoritative document to turn to helps justify our actions” (Veanna Baxter, email message to author, September 9, 2013).

Veanna was introduced to the Code of Ethics when she was a high school librarian in a rural district surrounded by Amish family farms whose children attended one- or two-room schools. Veanna recounts,

Our school opened its library to students on Thursday evenings. We invited the Amish children to use our library, and this brought their parents into our library as well. When the parents began asking me questions concerning the content of our materials, I realized they were disturbed about some of the books on religions, the sciences, etc. that did not parallel their own way of thinking. I wanted to say something besides, “we purchase books and materials to support our classroom teaching.” Realizing I needed authoritative support, I began my research and found the ALA Code of Ethics. Intellectual freedom means that all are free to read whatever material is available to them. If a librarian does not make all religious ideas and doctrines available, she/he is censoring library resources [Article II] (Veanna Baxter, email message to author, September 9, 2013).

Kelly, a young K-12 librarian in Pennsylvania, learned about the Code of Ethics last year. After reading Article III, which directs librarians to protect the privacy of library users, she took action. She said, “I made a few simple changes with overdue notices and how they are handled in our library. I used to give them to the teachers to distribute, but I now staple them shut and hand them to the students individually” (Kelly, email message to author, September 11, 2013). Kelly’s new procedure keeps the title of students’ overdue materials confidential, accessible only to the borrower.

To keep the Code of Ethics in the forefront of her practice, Kelly created a word cloud of the Code of Ethics using Tagxedo (http://www.tagxedo.com/), inserted the image into Microsoft Word, and added a border and title. After printing the colorful poster, she displayed it in her office window. Kelly explained, “I was new to working at the high school and wanted the Code of Ethics as a daily reminder to build the foundation of the high school program. I see it every day as I open my office.” She had another purpose in posting the Code of Ethics. According to Kelly, “I wanted to bring the Code of Ethics to students’, staff, and administration’s attention. Decisions we make determine the library environment, and we have an ethical responsibility to protect patrons’ rights” (Kelly, email message to author, September 13, 2013).

EXPANDING THE CODE’S VALUE

The Code of Ethics includes traditional library-related principles such as resisting censorship and finding the balance between copyright holders’ rights and fair use of copyrighted materials, but the Code can also guide librarians through a maze of new issues. To expand the Code’s usefulness, the ALA began creating explanatory statements to help librarians interpret the basic tenets of the Code of Ethics in uncharted situations.

Martin Garner, a reference services librarian and chair of the American Library Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics, stated,

Recently, the Committee on Professional Ethics has seen an increase in requests for guidance related to the ethical use of social media in a library setting. As a result, the Committee produced a new interpretative statement of the Code of Ethics—”Questions and Answers on Ethics and Social Media” that addresses many of the common questions on this topic. The document discusses data mining, ownership of social media content, patron education, republishing, and the importance of thoughtful policies. Our goal is to demonstrate that the guiding ethical principles developed in a print-based paradigm are still just as relevant in today’s digital world (Martin Garner, email messages to author, August 23 and September 17, 2013).

The Q & A statement includes policies from four school districts and lays out guidelines for the use of social media.

TAKE ANOTHER LOOK

If you have not read the Code of Ethics recently, or you have never seen it, take a few minutes to review and reflect on a document that embodies the core values of our profession. In a time of shifting ethical standards, it serves as a reliable voice for librarians facing ethical dilemmas.

Library Ethics Resources

• American Library Association. “Code of Ethics of the American Library Association.” 2008. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics
• American Library Association. “Questions and Answers on Ethics and Social Media: An Explanatory Statement of the ALA Code of Ethics.” July 2013.http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/questions-and-answers-ethics-and-social-media