[Michlib-l] Discomfort with Wednesday post about "neutrality"

Mon Apr 19 14:37:11 EDT 2021

I have to admit, I saved that post so I could re-read it because I felt 
I was missing the respondent's point. I am the first one to feel that 
email is not the best way to express myself, so thank you Kristin for 
the well-done comments. I know we here at Bellaire often walk the fine 
line between making sure we are remaining welcoming to all and being 
everything our community wants us to be.

---
Cindi L. Place, MLIS
Director, Bellaire Public Library
bellairelibrary at torchlake.com
231-533-8814

On 2021-04-17 13:12, Holly Kirsten via Michlib-l wrote:

> Thank you for replying, Kristin. I had actually tried to begin to 
> compose a reply on the day the post in question appeared. I was working 
> at the reference desk at the time, and since I couldn't quickly find 
> the right words when I got interrupted I just let it go. I figured 
> someone else out there would reply, especially with all the great 
> workshops a lot of us recently attended for Spring Institute. This just 
> teaches me that I can't wait for someone else.
> 
> Holly Kirsten Head of Information and Outreach Services
> Chesterfield Township Library
> 
> p: 586-598-4900 ext. 235 a: 50560 Patricia St. Chesterfield, MI 48051
> w: chelibrary.org [10]
> 
> Raising a reader is: Talking * Singing * Reading * Writing * Playing
> 
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 3:36 PM Kristin Fontichiaro via Michlib-l 
> <michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:
> 
>> Hello, all --
>> 
>> There was a post on this earlier this week in which a librarian asked 
>> for advice on policies that would help her library navigate the 
>> pushback some of her DEI posts are receiving. Their query received one 
>> response. Admitting that they had not viewed the content in question, 
>> the respondent argued that the profession should be more careful about 
>> betraying neutrality and that we would do well to walk more in the 
>> shoes of our (assumed majority white) patrons and plan posts 
>> accordingly.
>> 
>> I have been really uncomfortable about that for the past few days and 
>> have been waiting for someone to pipe up and voice concern about it. 
>> And now I am more uncomfortable that no one has, so I guess it's time 
>> for me to.
>> 
>> Our profession's Code of Ethics advocates for equitable access and 
>> service for all [1] and that we leave our personal perspectives at the 
>> door when we show up to work to live out the library's mission. The 
>> Code of Ethics never actually says, "Be neutral," or, "Equity matters, 
>> but if it ruffles a few feathers, just let it go." I am haunted by 
>> Elie Wiesel's articulation that, "Neutrality helps the oppressor, 
>> never the victim [2]." When we ask whose shoes we should be walking 
>> in, we might do better to ask who is most in need of empathy and whose 
>> perspectives are most underrrepresented.
>> 
>> I'm no DEI expert. I know how far I have to go in my own journey and 
>> that I have said and done dumb or hurtful things when I didn't know 
>> better. But if we are going to say we're proud to serve all, we have 
>> to acknowledge that this should not be a self-congratulatory pat on 
>> the back but a call to action.
>> 
>> I don't believe that shame is an effective learning tool [3], and I am 
>> NOT writing this to provoke angry jabs at the respondent. We may share 
>> a goal of equity but have different paths of getting there. Libraries 
>> outside of metropolitan areas serve very different communities from 
>> those in more diverse areas, and our action steps toward equity may 
>> look different or move at different rhythms or speeds ... as long as 
>> we keep moving forward.
>> 
>> I hope this message will help us all have a chance to take a deep 
>> breath, step back from the weird and stressful times we are living in, 
>> and ask, "How can our library welcome a wider swath of the 
>> population?"
>> 
>> Thanks for reading and for everything you do to help those who need it 
>> most.
>> 
>> Kristin
>> 
>> --
>> 
>> Kristin Fontichiaro
>> University of Michigan School of Information
>> 4427 North Quad
>> 105 S. State St.
>> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285
>> 734.647.3593
>> Blog [4] | Book an Appointment (school year only)  [5]
>> 
>> Projects:
>> Michigan Makers [6] | Making in Michigan Libraries [7]
>> Data Literacy in High School [8] | Public Library Management MOOC [9]
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
> _______________________________________________
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Links:
------
[1] 
http://www.ala.org/united/sites/ala.org.united/files/content/trustees/orgtools/policies/ALA-code-of-ethics.pdf
[2] 
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1986/wiesel/26054-elie-wiesel-acceptance-speech-1986/
[3] 
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/style/loretta-ross-smith-college-cancel-culture.html
[4] http://fontichiaro.com/activelearning
[5] 
https://www.google.com/calendar/selfsched?sstoken=UUFHX1E5cXRtYUVQfGRlZmF1bHR8YmY3NDdlYzA4ZDM2MjFmMzAzMDM2OTA3NGM3NjliMzQ
[6] http://michiganmakers.si.umich.edu
[7] http://makinglibraries.si.umich.edu
[8] http://dataliteracy.si.umich.edu
[9] http://ai.umich.edu/portfolio/public-library-management/
[10] https://chelibrary.org/
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