At many different stages of my journey through the program, the importance of a sound philosophy, upstanding principle, and unshaking ethics has been brought to the forefront. As I began my journey in the program in LIS 600 I took my first look at the ALA code of ethics. In a discussion board post, I examined the principle I felt would be most challenging to adhere to. At the time I selected, “VII. We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.”; mostly because of my desire to honor my own convictions. As I have studied in the program and worked as a school library media specialist, I have learned that there are more challenging aspects of the code of ethics. During LIS 610 I asked to revisit the ALA Code of Ethics and was asked to focus in on principal II, “We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.” And how this plays into ethics in collection development. This time I focused in on censorship and the difficult job school librarians have in front of them in providing a wide variety of materials that are also, age appropriate. Having a strong collection development plan in place helps protect librarians and defend against book challenges. Also allowing students the freedom to choose any book they would like without limitations allows the students to exercise their intellectual freedom. Once again in 653 I was asked to examine the ALA Code of Ethics. This time I zeroed in on the challenge of protecting a students privacy, as stated by principal III, “We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.” This is often very difficult when the very frazzled parent of a kindergartener with a lost book comes to inquire about which book is lost and how they can help find it. School librarians have to draw a line in the sand and decide is the missing book or the child’s privacy more important. The answer should always be the child’s privacy!

 

     As mentioned above, a strong collection development plan and management policy are great tools to protect and uphold the ethics of the library. A written plan gives you support when you face challenges in book choice, privacy, and censorship. In LIS 610 I created a Collection Management plan in which guidelines for selecting and deselecting materials was clearly laid out. In LIS 653 I created a Collection analysis and development plan that will help guide me in further meeting the needs of all patrons. In LIS 653 I also participated in a discussion of Equal access and Dewey. The topic of genrefication and leveling books came up and brought up the limits each could have, such as privacy; because everyone would know what you wanted to read, and censorship in limiting students to only books on their level.

 

     Not only is it important to protect the rights of the patrons, but it is also important to advocate on their behalf. During LIS 600 I research how the library could better reach out to and serve the growing Hispanic population in my action research project. In order to begin this research, I completed the modules online at the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Human Research course as a “Student Researcher” and became Institutional Review Board (IRB) certified. During this research project, I found many intriguing things about the Hispanic community and how “market” the library and its services in a way they would benefit from. Similarly, In SES 662 I looked at issues in equal access for students with special needs in my issues and trends assignment. I found that many parents don’t know how to effectively advocate for their child with special needs and it is important for librarians to provide resources that will help them be successful both in school and their information endeavors.