Definition of Competency or Understanding of Competency
The ALA defines diversity as “the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different,” both visibly and invisibly, and inclusion as “an environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully; are valued for their distinctive skills, experiences, and perspectives; have equal access to resources and opportunities; and can contribute fully to the organization’s success” (ALA, 2016). Equity can be defined as “fairness or justice in the way people are treated” (Equity, 2019), which proactively means “increasing diversity by ameliorating conditions of disadvantaged groups” (ALA, 2016). According to Wong, Figueroa, and Cardenas-Dow, “diversity connects with, complements, and advances two key principles of the information profession— intellectual freedom and equity of access” (2018, p 56). Librarianship’s ethics and policies seek not only to provide diverse information and materials to our communities, but also programs and services through outreach to “under- or unserved—and often diverse— populations” (Wong et al, 2018, p 57). “Equitable access” taken to its logical conclusion means sustainable services for all user groups, and thus implies a structural, systemic, or institutional-level approach to organizational change (Cooke, 2016, p 339). Information organizations therefore, and by extension information professionals, need to a) promote inclusive “intercultural communications and collaboration,” b) develop “cultural competence” as an attribute of professionals within organizations, and c) support diverse information communities through outreach to, and partnerships with these communities (Wong et al, 2016, pp 53-62).
Service, and particularly reference service, is at the heart of library work (Gorman, 2001, p 174). Prior to the concept of reference services, reference works, largely in the form of books, served various information communities. Lynch makes a point to write about women as an underserved and underrepresented early information community who were left out of the content creation process yet were considered a “target audience” (Lynch, 2016, pp 181-184). He also touches on information communities as diverse as the medical profession (Lynch, 2016, pp 86-90), pre-Craigslist whoremongers (pp 176-179), urban social climbers (pp 331-336), and “unpersons,” those left out or deliberately erased from history (pp 368-370). Over time within librarianship, and out of the ethos to be of service to everyone that would come to be enshrined in the Library Bill of Rights (ALA, 2018) and library policy generally (ALA, 2010), emerged the ideal of intellectual freedom and the belief in providing for “equity of access” to library programs and services (Gorman, 2001, pp 178-179). While these values parallel the rise of the public library as an American institution with its “mission of serving the common person,” this history is a contested one, with an alternative interpretation perceiving public libraries as a form of social control (Rubin, 2008, pp 7-8) with a history of racial segregation (Wong et al, 2016, p 64) and persistent structural inequities (Gorman, 2001, p 179).
Libraries and information organizations are not static entities. The information professional’s restless urge to aggregate and disseminate information, the “encyclopedic dream” (Lynch, 2016, pp 382-390), is one that is self-reflective yet also explorative in nature. Our individual and collectively derived knowledge and values eventually develop through iterative practice into “canonical” works (Franks, 2010). Our profession always runs the risk of being myopically focused on the stewardship of texts. But stewardship, like our other central values—the greater good and service (Gorman, 2012, p 1) need not always be focused inward. In fact, as Wong and company advise, libraries and librarians “can no longer assume a role of authority over the communities they serve,” and therefore should prioritize a commitment to social justice by focusing on outreach and partnering with diverse communities (Wong et al, 2016, p 65). Stewardship in this sense strengthens and deepens bonds and connections with our communities and thereby assists in the preservation of the historical record (p 62), that is, social memory, which, if it had been marginalized, might be lost.
Of highest importance though, is providing “equitable access to information through the inclusion of diverse communities in the design and delivery of programs and services” (Wong et al, 2016, p 57). Participation is key. To the degree librarians and libraries are inward focused, it ought to be on questioning their missions, and whether their “policies, structures, and procedures,” including programs and services, are supportive of the entire community (p 64), and also that staff are “culturally competent,” that is have the “ability to understand the needs of diverse populations and to interact effectively with people from different cultures” (Mestre, 2010, p 2). Because social categories are intersectional, meaning that members of the community are likely to “represent multiple diversities” (Cooke, 2016, pp 340-341), information professionals must learn to treat each new patron as both unique, and an unknown entity. Working towards cultural competency means effort and struggle over time, but I believe it is the path forward for informational professionals if we and our profession are going to thrive, flourish, and be relevant now and in the future.
Preparation to Understand Competency C: Coursework and Work Experience
My work history is rather eclectic. In addition to 15 years working in independent bookstores, and over 10 years at for one of the largest public library systems in the U.S. (XXXX), I have worked at a wide variety of jobs including farm hand, check-cashing teller, housecleaner, mover, and bamboo furniture refinisher. My work experience has brought me into contact with a wide variety of people along a spectrum of ages, gender identities, races, socio-cultural and economic backgrounds, and experiences. In the early 1990s I volunteered with Xxxx’s Books to Prisoners Project (BPP) which exposed me to the “prison-industrial complex” and its egregious effects, especially on women and minorities. (Prison-industrial complex, 2020). My experience mailing books to the incarcerated was in my mind when I decided to take INFO 282, Professor Mongelli’s seminar in Prison Library Management. INFO 282 helped me to see prison from the correctional librarian’s point-of-view, but also to see how the ethics and values of the public library model (including values like diversity, inclusion, and equity) necessarily clash with the aims and directives of a correctional institution. I have taken advantage of the work I do with XXXX to avail myself of free classes and seminars on topics that impact our community like opioids, autism, or memory loss. I took extensive bookmobile training so that I could perform outreach to our far-flung communities.
In my next class, on Reference and Information Services (INFO 210), I was pleasantly surprised that for my final project, there was an option where I could work with the DF Public Library on one of their projects serving diverse populations— a Jails and Reentry Service Program that entailed MLIS students providing a Reference by Mail service to incarcerated individuals. Contrasting the reference service I provided for prisoners with the reference service I normally provide in public libraries was illuminating. Around this time, I was one of 5 employees invited to take training that would allow me to perform substitute work at a XXXX library within a Xxxx juvenile detention facility, the Xxxx Youth Service Center (CDF), which happens to be located in my neighborhood. While I was working in this jail library, construction was under way on a new facility, and within the local community there was a deep resistance, not only to the construction of the new facility, but to its very existence. Working in that jail library brought home in a very visceral way, the structurally entrenched socio-cultural and economic inequities that effectively keep intellectual professionals from being able to achieve their aspirational missions and goals. Finally, during my internship (INFO 294) within XXXX’s Eastern region, I not only had the opportunity to see many examples of outreach and partnering with diverse community groups, but also was able to secure a teleconference with April Gonzalez, XXXX’s diversity coordinator, and ask her about programming metrics. This discussion helped me understand the work being done within our organization and the work yet to be addressed.
I felt that my explication on prisoner’s access to the courts would be relevant because this population most definitely is composed of individuals who “represent multiple diversities” (Cooke, 2016, pp 340-341); I placed it first because it seemed the most “inward looking” of my evidentiary items. My second piece of evidence on filtering policy is slightly less theoretical, deals with inclusion for both patrons and employees, and touches on both Intellectual Freedom and equity of access. My third evidentiary item, sections (1&3) of my Summary of Accomplishments for my summer internship, I chose because it describes my experiences and participation in both library programming and outreach and includes observations on their outward focus. For my final evidentiary item I chose the summary I wrote about my experience providing reference services for prisoners, because I think it shows that I am capable of providing outreach and services to disadvantaged individuals and able to properly analyze my efforts within contexts that are more structural in approach.
Evidence
A Prisoner’s Right to Unimpeded Access to the Courts
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A0b0e9d1b-43bf-44e9-9f56-e511d91ddb9d
During Week 6 of INFO 282 we explored how a challenge to the US penal system in the 1960s resulted in a court-mandated expansion of prison law libraries. In this paper I was tasked with tying a Thomas Paine quote to the idea that prisoners must be allowed “unimpeded access to the courts” (Mongelli, 2018). After deconstructing the Paine quote, I establish that legal rights must be maintained as enforceable procedures or those rights will be meaningless (in a similar manner one might argue that the concept of intellectual freedom in a library policy manual is useless if it is not enforced in practice). I go on to say though, that it is not compulsion but the social contract where moral duty emerges beyond self-interest to include those on the margins of society. I speak of the “magnanimous gesture of mindfully widening the social contract’s circumference even into the prison,” which is another way of saying information organizations need to look outward with their missions, need to extend intellectual freedom and equity of access through outreach and services.
I explain that when an information organization narrows their concept of the social contract, or fails to look outside the confines of a static “free civil society,” the very real danger emerges that those of us inside “free civil society,” might find ourselves locked out with no way to return. By willingly and actively embodying the liberties we desire to see manifest, we bake inclusivity as a value into our systems, and this should be a foundational principle upon which we build our organizations. I think this paper demonstrates that I understand how equity of access and inclusivity can successfully work together in practice and describes the implications for information institutions when they cannot or will not assist the most vulnerable and marginalized in this way. Being able to articulate the reasoning behind one’s defense of equitable access for all is a skill I can bring to any informational environment.
Filtering Policy Exercise
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A5ae45e35-cea5-4b3f-9358-7a9f6daefcb5
One of the exercises for my class on Intellectual Freedom (INFO 234) asked us to choose a scenario in which we would design a library policy that either did or did not filter access for patrons and employees. We were then supposed to defend that policy to detractors, give an example of a real library policy that reflected our opinion, and describe how they deal with Internet access. As with my paper on unimpeded access to the courts, my approach to the issue of filtering is not to make a legal argument but a rational and ethical one: filtering cannot be relied upon to defend either Intellectual Freedom or equity of access. I argue that librarians must hew to transparent library policies so that they remain accountable to the entire community, and so that there is a consistent process for challenging materials. The right to access information implies a responsibility to defend this right for others. Denying library employees this same right sets up a double standard that can lead to a situation where exceptions are made to free and open access. My line of reasoning throughout this paper shows that I would know how to how to differentiate inclusive library policies from those that use exclusionary language, understand the consequences of ill-designed policies, and that I would be capable of constructing policy using inclusive language that places responsibility for monitoring or supervision squarely on the individual parent, guardian, or user. Being able to construct policy in this manner ensures there will be limited liability to the library, which in turn helps assure that the institution remains a stable and reliable resource for a diverse clientele.
Observation and Analysis of Library Programming
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:80b3711d-9185-40ee-b6ef-77b25165cf44
My internship (INFO 294), embedded within XXXX’s Eastern region gave me some first-hand experience assisting with library programming and outreach. The summary of accomplishments I wrote at the end of this project identify certain experiences and observations that show how I applied my graduate-level courses to practical work. But this practical work can also be used to demonstrate how capable I am of identifying programs and services that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. For instance, in this summary I describe a Lego Robotics workshop where I identified an “invisible” barrier to access and stepped in to bridge the potential gap for the patron. I was able to observe intersectional community engagement and partnerships that were imagined, designed, and maintained by librarians. For instance, one librarian told me how she, inspired by a program that linked a teen crafting program to a local animal shelter, partnered with two other organizations to design a teen toy hacking workshop where the resulting toys are “disability friendly” (for instance, the “start” button on a robot would be modified to make it easier to use) and would be donated to appropriate organizations. In another instance, the same librarian forged a partnership between the library, a Science Center, and a juvenile detention facility. I was not only able to see how this triple partnership worked in practice, but I was able to understand how the librarian conceived of the project, made it come together, and the communication and work it takes to make it happen.
I note how our diversity coordinator emphasized the importance of “pushing [ourselves] out of our comfort zones,” and how another librarian illustrated the time and patience it takes to do outreach properly. I also observe how a librarian assesses and reassesses programs and partnerships in real time, and how the appraisal of partnerships is not simply about identifying problems but also one of finding opportunities. Finally, I note my awareness of the role XXXX’s Strategic plan has in this programming which, at the time, was just beginning to develop a robust diversity, equity, and inclusion element. This broad summary shows that I understand what it feels like to work in the midst of diverse programming that one has envisioned, designed, and seeks to maintain through assessment and evaluation. I illustrate what intersectional library work looks like in practice and in at least one instance, how one acts to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive program.
Working with Incarcerated Populations
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:bf57403c-752e-474a-b73f-5b50fd41ffc3
My Reference and Information Services class (INFO 210) involved a semester-long project working with the DF Public Library (DFPL) to provide reference-by-mail service to prisoners. This was the first time I had performed reference work outside of the public library arena. In this final paper for the project I begin by observing how patrons of prison libraries seem to possess inferior access to materials if put in contrast with patrons in a juvenile detention facility, but how both experience “information poverty” (Racelis, 2018) compared to those in the public sphere. I observe how prisoner inquiries are scrutinized differently than those of other information communities. I note how the American Library Association (ALA) equivocates on a prisoner’s right to read and the structures that might be behind their ambiguity. I ask why reference services could not be provided behind prison walls and elaborate on the “carceral context” (Drabinski & Rabina, 2015, p 44). I consider the position of the correctional librarian, as well as my perspective as both a professional and as a citizen with his own beliefs and biases and conclude that we have responsibility to provide access to the incarcerated. I argue that in our outreach, prisoners ought to be treated with the same professionalism that we provide to patrons outside in civil society. My final observation was of the gulf between inmate and librarian, and how I made a conscious effort to make a one-way service transaction a little more like a dialogue between people.
In my conclusion I point to where the library profession itself decided to share “responsibility for correctional goals” (Coyle, 1987, p 66) such as providing for the needs and interests of prisoners. This provision combines the user’s interests (intellectual freedom) with their need for rehabilitation (a pathway back to inclusion and/or equity of access). Because the prison library is a hybrid model that combines both public and therapeutic aspects, I write that at present the role of the librarian must be seen as the key to success or failure for services to the prisoner. However, I go on to argue that in the long-term this is a model that is unsustainable, and that without the broadest of structural changes, prisoners will continue to be one of the most neglected and poorly treated of the information communities.
The pages that follow, transcript excerpts from the reference service transactions I processed, show that I am capable of providing services to a diverse information community, contributing something to the effort to provide equity of access to those experiencing information scarcity. My efforts to dialogue with prison patrons in what can only be described as a monologue (even if couched as a reference transaction), shows that I am capable of reaching out and communicating in a way that fosters inclusion as both a valued process and end-goal.
Conclusion
The ability to articulate a reasoned defense for equitable access for all is a skill I can take with me anywhere in the information professions. In the same way that I can formulate a rational defense of ethical principles, I am able to deconstruct the language of library polices and differentiate between inclusive and exclusionary language. Being able to dissect a library policy for its stance on diversity, inclusion, or equity is a step toward being able to construct such a policy, and in fact, in later college courses I did just that. I have participated in intersectional library work and know how to act, while performing library services or facilitating library programs, in support of intellectual freedom and equity of access for all. I am capable of providing services to a diverse information community and communicating interculturally in a way that fosters inclusion as not only an ideal, but as a way to live and interact with one another. These different skills and ways of understanding interact with each other in a way that shows that I am actively building my cultural competence, always with the aim of culturally proficiency.
References
American Library Association. (2010, August 17). ALA Policy Manual. Retrieved from
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/governance/policymanual
American Library Association. (2016). Final report of the ALA task force on equity, diversity,
and inclusion. Chicago: American Library Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/aboutala/sites/ala.org.aboutala/files/content/TFEDIFinalReport_ALA_CONNECT.pdf
American Library Association. (2018, September 10). Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill
Books to Prisoners Project. Retrieved from https://www.bookstoprisoners.net
Cooke, N.A. Reference services for diverse populations. (2016). In Smith, L. C., & Wong, M. A.
(Eds.). Reference and information services: An introduction. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.
Coyle, W.J. (1987). Libraries in prisons: A blending of institutions. Westport, CT: Greenwood
Press.
Dixen, R., & Thorson, S. How librarians serve people in prison. (2001). Computers in Libraries,
(21)9, 48-53.
Drabinski, E. and Rabina, D. (2015). Reference services to incarcerated people, part 1: Themes
emerging from answering reference questions from prisons and jails. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 55(1), 42-48. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.liu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=brooklyn_libfacpubs
Equity. (2020, February 5). Retrieved from http://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/equity
Franks, S. (2010). Grand narratives and the information cycle in the library instruction
classroom. 43-53. In Accardi M., Drabinski E., and Kumbier, A. (Eds.). Critical Library Instruction: Theories and Methods. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press.
Gorman, M. (2001). Values for human-to-human reference. Library Trends, 50(2), 168-184. Retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/8391/librarytrendsv50i2c_opt.pdf?s
Harlan, M.A. (2018). Literacy and media centers. In Hirsh, S. (Ed.), Information services today:
An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield.
Haycock, K., & Sheldon, B. (2008). The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Westport:
Libraries Unlimited
Hirsh, S. (Ed.). (2018). Information services today: An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield.
Lynch, J. (2016). You could look it up: The reference shelf from ancient babylon to wikipedia.
New York: Bloomsbury
Mestre, L. S. (2010). Librarians working with diverse populations: What impact does cultural
competency training have on their efforts? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36(6), 479-488. Retrieved from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/26006/Mestre_librarians_working_with_diverse_populations_proof.pdf?sequence=2
Mongelli, W. (2018). Prison law libraries: Helping the helpless help themselves. [Audio
podcast]. Retrieved from http://amazon.sjsu.edu/html-mongelli/lecture7_law_libraries.mp3
Prison-industrial complex. (2020, February 6). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison–industrial_complex
Racelis, A. (2018). Library services for the poor: Theoretical framework for library social
responsibility. Pedagogical Research, 3(2), 6. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1180321.pdf
Rubin, R.E. (2008). Stepping back and looking forward: Reflections on the foundations of
libraries and librarianship. In Haycock, K. & Romaniuk, M. J. (Eds.). The portable MLIS: Insights from the experts. Libraries Unlimited.
Smith, L. C., & Wong, M. A. (Eds.). (2016). Reference and information services: An
introduction. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.
Wong, P., Figueroa, M., & Dow, C. (2018). Diversity, equity of access, and social justice. In
Hirsh, S. (Ed.), Information services today: An introduction. Rowman & Littlefield.
The ALA defines diversity as “the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different,” both visibly and invisibly, and inclusion as “an environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully; are valued for their distinctive skills, experiences, and perspectives; have equal access to resources and opportunities; and can contribute fully to the organization’s success” (ALA, 2016). Equity can be defined as “fairness or justice in the way people are treated” (Equity, 2019), which proactively means “increasing diversity by ameliorating conditions of disadvantaged groups” (ALA, 2016). According to Wong, Figueroa, and Cardenas-Dow, “diversity connects with, complements, and advances two key principles of the information profession— intellectual freedom and equity of access” (2018, p 56). Librarianship’s ethics and policies seek not only to provide diverse information and materials to our communities, but also programs and services through outreach to “under- or unserved—and often diverse— populations” (Wong et al, 2018, p 57). “Equitable access” taken to its logical conclusion means sustainable services for all user groups, and thus implies a structural, systemic, or institutional-level approach to organizational change (Cooke, 2016, p 339). Information organizations therefore, and by extension information professionals, need to a) promote inclusive “intercultural communications and collaboration,” b) develop “cultural competence” as an attribute of professionals within organizations, and c) support diverse information communities through outreach to, and partnerships with these communities (Wong et al, 2016, pp 53-62).
Service, and particularly reference service, is at the heart of library work (Gorman, 2001, p 174). Prior to the concept of reference services, reference works, largely in the form of books, served various information communities. Lynch makes a point to write about women as an underserved and underrepresented early information community who were left out of the content creation process yet were considered a “target audience” (Lynch, 2016, pp 181-184). He also touches on information communities as diverse as the medical profession (Lynch, 2016, pp 86-90), pre-Craigslist whoremongers (pp 176-179), urban social climbers (pp 331-336), and “unpersons,” those left out or deliberately erased from history (pp 368-370). Over time within librarianship, and out of the ethos to be of service to everyone that would come to be enshrined in the Library Bill of Rights (ALA, 2018) and library policy generally (ALA, 2010), emerged the ideal of intellectual freedom and the belief in providing for “equity of access” to library programs and services (Gorman, 2001, pp 178-179). While these values parallel the rise of the public library as an American institution with its “mission of serving the common person,” this history is a contested one, with an alternative interpretation perceiving public libraries as a form of social control (Rubin, 2008, pp 7-8) with a history of racial segregation (Wong et al, 2016, p 64) and persistent structural inequities (Gorman, 2001, p 179).
Libraries and information organizations are not static entities. The information professional’s restless urge to aggregate and disseminate information, the “encyclopedic dream” (Lynch, 2016, pp 382-390), is one that is self-reflective yet also explorative in nature. Our individual and collectively derived knowledge and values eventually develop through iterative practice into “canonical” works (Franks, 2010). Our profession always runs the risk of being myopically focused on the stewardship of texts. But stewardship, like our other central values—the greater good and service (Gorman, 2012, p 1) need not always be focused inward. In fact, as Wong and company advise, libraries and librarians “can no longer assume a role of authority over the communities they serve,” and therefore should prioritize a commitment to social justice by focusing on outreach and partnering with diverse communities (Wong et al, 2016, p 65). Stewardship in this sense strengthens and deepens bonds and connections with our communities and thereby assists in the preservation of the historical record (p 62), that is, social memory, which, if it had been marginalized, might be lost.
Of highest importance though, is providing “equitable access to information through the inclusion of diverse communities in the design and delivery of programs and services” (Wong et al, 2016, p 57). Participation is key. To the degree librarians and libraries are inward focused, it ought to be on questioning their missions, and whether their “policies, structures, and procedures,” including programs and services, are supportive of the entire community (p 64), and also that staff are “culturally competent,” that is have the “ability to understand the needs of diverse populations and to interact effectively with people from different cultures” (Mestre, 2010, p 2). Because social categories are intersectional, meaning that members of the community are likely to “represent multiple diversities” (Cooke, 2016, pp 340-341), information professionals must learn to treat each new patron as both unique, and an unknown entity. Working towards cultural competency means effort and struggle over time, but I believe it is the path forward for informational professionals if we and our profession are going to thrive, flourish, and be relevant now and in the future.
Preparation to Understand Competency C: Coursework and Work Experience
My work history is rather eclectic. In addition to 15 years working in independent bookstores, and over 10 years at for one of the largest public library systems in the U.S. (XXXX), I have worked at a wide variety of jobs including farm hand, check-cashing teller, housecleaner, mover, and bamboo furniture refinisher. My work experience has brought me into contact with a wide variety of people along a spectrum of ages, gender identities, races, socio-cultural and economic backgrounds, and experiences. In the early 1990s I volunteered with Xxxx’s Books to Prisoners Project (BPP) which exposed me to the “prison-industrial complex” and its egregious effects, especially on women and minorities. (Prison-industrial complex, 2020). My experience mailing books to the incarcerated was in my mind when I decided to take INFO 282, Professor Mongelli’s seminar in Prison Library Management. INFO 282 helped me to see prison from the correctional librarian’s point-of-view, but also to see how the ethics and values of the public library model (including values like diversity, inclusion, and equity) necessarily clash with the aims and directives of a correctional institution. I have taken advantage of the work I do with XXXX to avail myself of free classes and seminars on topics that impact our community like opioids, autism, or memory loss. I took extensive bookmobile training so that I could perform outreach to our far-flung communities.
In my next class, on Reference and Information Services (INFO 210), I was pleasantly surprised that for my final project, there was an option where I could work with the DF Public Library on one of their projects serving diverse populations— a Jails and Reentry Service Program that entailed MLIS students providing a Reference by Mail service to incarcerated individuals. Contrasting the reference service I provided for prisoners with the reference service I normally provide in public libraries was illuminating. Around this time, I was one of 5 employees invited to take training that would allow me to perform substitute work at a XXXX library within a Xxxx juvenile detention facility, the Xxxx Youth Service Center (CDF), which happens to be located in my neighborhood. While I was working in this jail library, construction was under way on a new facility, and within the local community there was a deep resistance, not only to the construction of the new facility, but to its very existence. Working in that jail library brought home in a very visceral way, the structurally entrenched socio-cultural and economic inequities that effectively keep intellectual professionals from being able to achieve their aspirational missions and goals. Finally, during my internship (INFO 294) within XXXX’s Eastern region, I not only had the opportunity to see many examples of outreach and partnering with diverse community groups, but also was able to secure a teleconference with April Gonzalez, XXXX’s diversity coordinator, and ask her about programming metrics. This discussion helped me understand the work being done within our organization and the work yet to be addressed.
I felt that my explication on prisoner’s access to the courts would be relevant because this population most definitely is composed of individuals who “represent multiple diversities” (Cooke, 2016, pp 340-341); I placed it first because it seemed the most “inward looking” of my evidentiary items. My second piece of evidence on filtering policy is slightly less theoretical, deals with inclusion for both patrons and employees, and touches on both Intellectual Freedom and equity of access. My third evidentiary item, sections (1&3) of my Summary of Accomplishments for my summer internship, I chose because it describes my experiences and participation in both library programming and outreach and includes observations on their outward focus. For my final evidentiary item I chose the summary I wrote about my experience providing reference services for prisoners, because I think it shows that I am capable of providing outreach and services to disadvantaged individuals and able to properly analyze my efforts within contexts that are more structural in approach.
Evidence
A Prisoner’s Right to Unimpeded Access to the Courts
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A0b0e9d1b-43bf-44e9-9f56-e511d91ddb9d
During Week 6 of INFO 282 we explored how a challenge to the US penal system in the 1960s resulted in a court-mandated expansion of prison law libraries. In this paper I was tasked with tying a Thomas Paine quote to the idea that prisoners must be allowed “unimpeded access to the courts” (Mongelli, 2018). After deconstructing the Paine quote, I establish that legal rights must be maintained as enforceable procedures or those rights will be meaningless (in a similar manner one might argue that the concept of intellectual freedom in a library policy manual is useless if it is not enforced in practice). I go on to say though, that it is not compulsion but the social contract where moral duty emerges beyond self-interest to include those on the margins of society. I speak of the “magnanimous gesture of mindfully widening the social contract’s circumference even into the prison,” which is another way of saying information organizations need to look outward with their missions, need to extend intellectual freedom and equity of access through outreach and services.
I explain that when an information organization narrows their concept of the social contract, or fails to look outside the confines of a static “free civil society,” the very real danger emerges that those of us inside “free civil society,” might find ourselves locked out with no way to return. By willingly and actively embodying the liberties we desire to see manifest, we bake inclusivity as a value into our systems, and this should be a foundational principle upon which we build our organizations. I think this paper demonstrates that I understand how equity of access and inclusivity can successfully work together in practice and describes the implications for information institutions when they cannot or will not assist the most vulnerable and marginalized in this way. Being able to articulate the reasoning behind one’s defense of equitable access for all is a skill I can bring to any informational environment.
Filtering Policy Exercise
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A5ae45e35-cea5-4b3f-9358-7a9f6daefcb5
One of the exercises for my class on Intellectual Freedom (INFO 234) asked us to choose a scenario in which we would design a library policy that either did or did not filter access for patrons and employees. We were then supposed to defend that policy to detractors, give an example of a real library policy that reflected our opinion, and describe how they deal with Internet access. As with my paper on unimpeded access to the courts, my approach to the issue of filtering is not to make a legal argument but a rational and ethical one: filtering cannot be relied upon to defend either Intellectual Freedom or equity of access. I argue that librarians must hew to transparent library policies so that they remain accountable to the entire community, and so that there is a consistent process for challenging materials. The right to access information implies a responsibility to defend this right for others. Denying library employees this same right sets up a double standard that can lead to a situation where exceptions are made to free and open access. My line of reasoning throughout this paper shows that I would know how to how to differentiate inclusive library policies from those that use exclusionary language, understand the consequences of ill-designed policies, and that I would be capable of constructing policy using inclusive language that places responsibility for monitoring or supervision squarely on the individual parent, guardian, or user. Being able to construct policy in this manner ensures there will be limited liability to the library, which in turn helps assure that the institution remains a stable and reliable resource for a diverse clientele.
Observation and Analysis of Library Programming
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
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My internship (INFO 294), embedded within XXXX’s Eastern region gave me some first-hand experience assisting with library programming and outreach. The summary of accomplishments I wrote at the end of this project identify certain experiences and observations that show how I applied my graduate-level courses to practical work. But this practical work can also be used to demonstrate how capable I am of identifying programs and services that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. For instance, in this summary I describe a Lego Robotics workshop where I identified an “invisible” barrier to access and stepped in to bridge the potential gap for the patron. I was able to observe intersectional community engagement and partnerships that were imagined, designed, and maintained by librarians. For instance, one librarian told me how she, inspired by a program that linked a teen crafting program to a local animal shelter, partnered with two other organizations to design a teen toy hacking workshop where the resulting toys are “disability friendly” (for instance, the “start” button on a robot would be modified to make it easier to use) and would be donated to appropriate organizations. In another instance, the same librarian forged a partnership between the library, a Science Center, and a juvenile detention facility. I was not only able to see how this triple partnership worked in practice, but I was able to understand how the librarian conceived of the project, made it come together, and the communication and work it takes to make it happen.
I note how our diversity coordinator emphasized the importance of “pushing [ourselves] out of our comfort zones,” and how another librarian illustrated the time and patience it takes to do outreach properly. I also observe how a librarian assesses and reassesses programs and partnerships in real time, and how the appraisal of partnerships is not simply about identifying problems but also one of finding opportunities. Finally, I note my awareness of the role XXXX’s Strategic plan has in this programming which, at the time, was just beginning to develop a robust diversity, equity, and inclusion element. This broad summary shows that I understand what it feels like to work in the midst of diverse programming that one has envisioned, designed, and seeks to maintain through assessment and evaluation. I illustrate what intersectional library work looks like in practice and in at least one instance, how one acts to support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive program.
Working with Incarcerated Populations
Discussion of Evidentiary Items
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My Reference and Information Services class (INFO 210) involved a semester-long project working with the DF Public Library (DFPL) to provide reference-by-mail service to prisoners. This was the first time I had performed reference work outside of the public library arena. In this final paper for the project I begin by observing how patrons of prison libraries seem to possess inferior access to materials if put in contrast with patrons in a juvenile detention facility, but how both experience “information poverty” (Racelis, 2018) compared to those in the public sphere. I observe how prisoner inquiries are scrutinized differently than those of other information communities. I note how the American Library Association (ALA) equivocates on a prisoner’s right to read and the structures that might be behind their ambiguity. I ask why reference services could not be provided behind prison walls and elaborate on the “carceral context” (Drabinski & Rabina, 2015, p 44). I consider the position of the correctional librarian, as well as my perspective as both a professional and as a citizen with his own beliefs and biases and conclude that we have responsibility to provide access to the incarcerated. I argue that in our outreach, prisoners ought to be treated with the same professionalism that we provide to patrons outside in civil society. My final observation was of the gulf between inmate and librarian, and how I made a conscious effort to make a one-way service transaction a little more like a dialogue between people.
In my conclusion I point to where the library profession itself decided to share “responsibility for correctional goals” (Coyle, 1987, p 66) such as providing for the needs and interests of prisoners. This provision combines the user’s interests (intellectual freedom) with their need for rehabilitation (a pathway back to inclusion and/or equity of access). Because the prison library is a hybrid model that combines both public and therapeutic aspects, I write that at present the role of the librarian must be seen as the key to success or failure for services to the prisoner. However, I go on to argue that in the long-term this is a model that is unsustainable, and that without the broadest of structural changes, prisoners will continue to be one of the most neglected and poorly treated of the information communities.
The pages that follow, transcript excerpts from the reference service transactions I processed, show that I am capable of providing services to a diverse information community, contributing something to the effort to provide equity of access to those experiencing information scarcity. My efforts to dialogue with prison patrons in what can only be described as a monologue (even if couched as a reference transaction), shows that I am capable of reaching out and communicating in a way that fosters inclusion as both a valued process and end-goal.
Conclusion
The ability to articulate a reasoned defense for equitable access for all is a skill I can take with me anywhere in the information professions. In the same way that I can formulate a rational defense of ethical principles, I am able to deconstruct the language of library polices and differentiate between inclusive and exclusionary language. Being able to dissect a library policy for its stance on diversity, inclusion, or equity is a step toward being able to construct such a policy, and in fact, in later college courses I did just that. I have participated in intersectional library work and know how to act, while performing library services or facilitating library programs, in support of intellectual freedom and equity of access for all. I am capable of providing services to a diverse information community and communicating interculturally in a way that fosters inclusion as not only an ideal, but as a way to live and interact with one another. These different skills and ways of understanding interact with each other in a way that shows that I am actively building my cultural competence, always with the aim of culturally proficiency.
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