Compliant Trust: The Public Good and Democracy in the ALA’s “Core Values of Librarianship”

Abstract

This paper will consider the Core Values of The Public Good and Democracy as articulated in the American Library Association’s “Core Values of Librarianship” (2004) and its affiliated documents in conjunction with the ways in which these two Core Values are deployed in library discourse around the Ferguson (Missouri) Public Library, particularly during the last four months of 2014. Both the ALA’s Core Values document and library discourse around Ferguson heavily rely upon liberalism in regard to power and conflict, subjectivity and equality, and capitalism. This reliance results in a vision of librarianship and an understanding of the Ferguson Public Library that are completely decoupled from political, economic, social, and historical contexts. This decontextualized discourse fits seamlessly within neoliberal ideology and is ultimately antidemocratic.

Winnipeg’s Millennium Library needs Solidarity, not Security

“…If this kind of securitization becomes normalized, the threat to libraries is real: the securitization changes the character of the space, it mediates the relationships between workers and patrons, and it makes us all less free in public space. Libraries have always been embedded within dominant social relations (Bourg, 2015;de jesus, 2014;Seale, 2016), constrained by the politics and interests of the powerful. Yet there has also always been resistance, with critical, progressive, "whole person", and community-led approaches all seeking to explore ways to destabilize hegemonic and oppressive factors in librarianship.…”

Könyvtárgazda(g)ság: pénzügyi vonatkozású korszerű menedzsmenteljárások könyvtári alkalmazása

“…A Koreai Köztársaság Kulturális, Sport és Turizmus Minisztériuma nagy gondot fordít arra, hogy kulturális örökségét belföldön és külföldön népszerűsítse. 227 A minisztérium amely egyben a Nemzeti Színház, a Nemzeti Múzeum, valamint az 1945-ben alapított Koreai Nemzeti Könyvtár fenntartója is, 228 kihasználja a kommersz filmben rejlő lehetőségeket, amelynek jelentőségére az 1993-as Spielberg Jurassic Park sikere ébresztette rá a koreai szakembereket: a bevétel akkora volt, mint ha Dél-Korea egy év alatt 1,5 millió autót exportált volna nemzetközi piacra. Azt is tudták, hogy akkora költségvetéssel nem számolhatnak, mint Hollywoodban, ezért sajátos formát alakítottak ki: a pergő cselekményre, illetve karakterábrázolásra fókuszálnak, amely kevesebb pénzügyi befektetést igényel, mint a megszokott látványelemek (autósüldözés, lángoló épületek, stb.)…”

Negotiating digital public spaces: context, purpose and audiences

“…Libraries, the public sphere and (digital) public spaces Understandings of public spaces like the library have historically been framed through the concept of the public sphere (Habermas, 1989) in which libraries materially embody a forum for free and equal speech or access (Buschman and Leckie, 2007;D'Angelo, 2006;Webster, 2010). In the USA library tradition, the public sphere discourse has found expression in the idea of the "informed citizen," whose access to information enables their participation in the rational and democratic discussion of public matters (Seale, 2016). This ethos was embedded in the first public libraries, founded in the 1850s, and consolidated in the creation of the American Library Association (ALA) in 1876 (Harris, 1999).…”