I assist in the Introduction to Information Access and Retrieval class, and two interesting issues are currently being discussed by the students. The first involves the firing of a new assistant librarian in Tulare County, California, who reported a man viewing child pornography to the police after her supervisor told her that a warning was sufficient, and it was unnecessary to report the matter to the police. (see the article in Library Journal online.) The community, as well as the class, has been outraged that the new staffer was punished for reporting a crime (child pornography is not protected speech-it is, in fact, a federal as well as a state offense.) The library has indicated that the person involved was fired for other reasons, although she had received a previous positive review. The second discussion has been about the plan of the Philadelphia Free Library to hire the homeless in the library café and restrooms as a response to the use of the library by the homeless for shelter and hygiene. (The class is generally encouraged by the choice of the library to become part of the safety net for the homeless.) These are just two very tangible areas in which we as librarians have the opportunity to apply professional ethics to the world in which we live and work. There will be many more, no matter where we find ourselves working.
The current discussions helped illuminate the readings on ethics that we were given. I found White’s article on teaching professional ethics didactic and at its most extreme, undemocratic. Of course the role of education in librarianship is “to make students aware of the complexity of problems and options” we face. It does not mean, as he implies, that we should find ourselves “allied with child pornographers.” Jensen’s article was more useful for me. As he points out, “neutrality is impossible… we can’t pretend…by claiming to be neutral- that we can avoid accountability for our roles.” His goal is rather the pursuit of free and open inquiry of professionals, engaged in a truly diverse political dialogue. That looks more like the profession I want to pursue. I just hope it’s possible…
Hi Lissagirl,
Regarding the Tulare County issue, here are links to many resources on the issue, including your own blog:
http://del.icio.us/plan2succeed/LindsayCA
More generally, if you are interested in another ethics issue vis-a-vis the American Library Association, consider this, particularly comment #7:
http://imposedblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/unexpected-assistance-with-comps/
By: SafeLibraries.org on April 2, 2008
at 12:15 pm
Lissagirl,
Wow, what a story to demonstrate the complexity of professional ethics. My personal opinion is that there were over reactions on both sides. I think Brenda Biesterfeld should ask if the man needed any help and try to find out why was he viewing such material? If it is determent that he was viewing for the purpose of entertaining child pornography, then she should report to her supervisor and check with the department procedure. If department procedure calls for contacting the police immediate, then she should do so. If there is a child in an immediate danger with this man, then she definitely should call the police. However, if reason was given for academic purpose or can’t be identified clearly, then Ms. Biesterfeld should inform him that a public library is not an appropriate place to conduct such research. A FBI crime unit library would be a better choice, and he needs to stop viewing such images on the public library computers. As for the library, they should not fire Ms. Biesterfeld for this incident. All they had to do was to pull her aside and let her know that she should let her supervisor or the administration to handle this next time. Ms. Biesterfeld’s motive was good and should not have cost her job. Ethical issues are not black and white, and we can only learn from others and past experiences.
By: dkl0039 on April 3, 2008
at 5:15 pm
Lissagirl,
I’d love to know what Robert Jensen has to say about this issue. He’s a very strong advocate against pornography – most pornography involves violence and racism against both women and men. He also speaks out on free speech. Personally although I find pornography abhorrent, I pretty much ignore it unless lewd behavior is involved. It really has not been an issue I’ve had to deal with much—so easy to take the high road. However, child pornography is illegal. Usually computer use policies remind patrons of that. I personally think calling the police is appropriate. Would the librarian have needed her supervisor’s approval to report any other crime? If someone is being assaulted surely she would be expected to call the police ASAP. To me child pornography is the same sort of event.
The homeless issue to me is more complex. Many homeless people are not just down and out, but have severe mental illnesses. I think as a society our poor response and lack of support has been really appalling. My daughter started volunteering at a home for troubled youth just yesterday and she came home with this story. My daughter was told one of the residents is 14 years old and is there because she was caught shoplifting in a grocery store. This youth had been homeless since she was 11 and subsisted by stealing food. I just can’t get that out of mind. That said libraries need to be safe places for all patrons; and I worry about the mental illnesses, addictions that many homeless people struggle with. I realize some people are homeless because of economic disasters beyond their control, and they without a doubt would benefit with a program like the one at the Philadelphia Free Library.
By: magensbay on April 5, 2008
at 1:32 am
Dkl0039- you always give people the benefit of the doubt, and that is a wonderful characteristic. I’m going to have to disagree with you in this case; as Magensbay said, a crime was being committed. There was never any suggestion that the individual arrested was researching (my guess is that legitimate researchers in the field know where to go for information.) Ms Beisterfeld did inform her supervisor the first time the incident occurred; the individual was arrested the second time he was found viewing child pornography in the library. I can’t imagine what makes the management of the library believe that they were serving the best interests of the community in protecting him.
Magensbay, you make an excellent point about the homeless situation in our country. The policy decision was made to not institutionalize people with mental illness and drug problems, but no safety net was substituted, and they end up on the street because they are not able to care for themselves or maintain a job. With regard to the program in Philadelphia, I assume that the Philadelphia Free Library is screening the folks that they hire for this program for the reasons mentioned. No library is equipped to handle mental illness and drug abuse in its employees.
I got tears in my eyes thinking about the 14 year old your daughter told you about. Most kids on the street are throw-aways, not run-aways, and they are fortunate to survive if they’re abandoned at such an early age. You must be so proud of your daughter; you know that you’ve been a successful parent when your kids are willing to sacrifice their comfort to give back to the community.
By: lissagirl on April 7, 2008
at 11:29 pm
Library Journal in their case studies had an example of a child being abused in the library. The article is at:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6523454.html?q=case+study+interference
Both of the possible scenario responses had the librarians taking some sort of action. The thing is this
was an extreme example were clearly the police should be called. I thought I would have done what the second response mentioned and interceded to help the child with his research; so then the
abuse would have happened outside of the library. That would be worse. This is such a hard call, so many shades of gray. I think in most situations like this the abuse would have stopped with the verbal; and then how do you call the police on that?
By: magensbay on April 8, 2008
at 3:00 pm