Introduction: Valuing Librarianship: Core Values in Theory and Practice

In 2011 we published an article in Library Trends where we concluded, “It is worth considering why the ALA Core Values seem to have lost their traction or relevance in the daily work librarians perform. There may be political, institutional, professional, or organizational reasons why this has happened and these factors would be well worth exploring” (Jacobs & Berg, 2011, p. 391). In 2014, as the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the American Library Association’s (ALA) “Core Values of Librarianship” came and went without any scholarly or professional attention, we found we were still considering these questions and issued a call to librarians and LIS faculty to explore these questions along with us. As Maura Seale eloquently asserts in her contribution to this special issue, “ALA’s Core ‘Core Values of Librarianship’ (2004) wants to tell a story” (p. 596). This special issue, “Valuing Librarianship: Core Values in Theory and Practice,” is an attempt to tell some of those stories.

The “Core Values of Librarianship” statement was adopted by the ALA Council in 2004. The development and adoption of the statement was lively, vocal, and highly controversial; however, since its adoption the conversation related to the document has been relatively quiet—discussed infrequently, applied sparingly, and cited modestly. When one compares the application and citations of the Core Value document (cited twelve times in Scopus) to that of the ACRL’s “Standards of Information Literacy,” also adopted in 2004 (cited 939 times in Scopus), the difference is remarkable.¹ When cited in the literature, the Core Value statement is mostly used as a brief reference point in research or discussions. The Core Values are often referenced in the literature as a means to anchor, promote, or justify specific projects or approaches to services (see, for example, Potter, 2008; Prendergast, 2013; Spiro, 2012), but rarely as representations or in-depth investigations of how an individual value or cluster of values guide(s) librarians’ practice or philosophy.² By asking practitioners and LIS scholars to explore librarianship’s past, present, and future in relation to the eleven Core Values outlined by the ALA, this collection brings the Core Values themselves and the statement to the fore of the conversation. Using the “Core Values of Librarianship” statement as a framework, this special issue of Library Trends explores how these Core Values have (or have not) informed, influenced, guided, and contextualized libraries and librarianship, and considers what role these Core Values might have in guiding our profession in the future.

Development of the Core Values: Controversy from the Onset

Donald Sager (2001) described the initial stages of developing the “Core Values of Librarianship” as “one of the most contentious professional issues that arose [in 2000]” (p. 149). Sager chaired the first Task Force on Core Values, originally appointed to address a recommendation that emerged from the 1999 Congress on Professional Education (CPE). Specifically, the Task Force was mandated to “clarify the core values (credo) of the profession. Although the Association has issued a number of documents that imply values for the profession (e.g., the Code of Ethics, statements on intellectual freedom, and Libraries: An American Value), there is no clear explication to which members can refer and through which decisions can be assessed” (American Library Association, 1999). The Task Force aimed to make clear the values that were at the core of the profession of librarianship.

The assigned work of the Task Force was daunting, and some considered it to be impossible (Budd, 2008; Koehler, 2003; Sager, 2001). They were tasked with identifying and succinctly articulating what values were at the core of an incredibly diverse profession made up of a wide array of types of professional librarians who serve even more diverse populations of users. However, only one year after being tasked with this job, the Task Force presented “Librarianship and Information Service: A Statement on Core Values” at the 2001 ALA Annual Conference on March 25, 2000.³ The values identified by the Task Force were

• • the connection of people to ideas;

• • the assurance...