[Michlib-l] New equity and social justice principle added to ALA Code of Ethics

[Anthony Isom]

Matt,

Your argument about the language use in the Code of Ethics runs rather
shallow, I'm afraid. Given that a cishet black male patron who misuses
library policy, or is even perceived as misusing library policy, to the
degree that library staff considers it "safe" to involve local law
enforcement will be handled differently than if a cishet white male patron
misuses library policy to an equal degree, "all library users" aren't
experiencing the world outside of the library with any sort of equity,
therefore "the inherent dignity and rights of every person" have been
violated before the cishet black male person has even sets foot inside the
library. In other words: the shift in tone is necessary. One cannot use
easy language or soft tones to rid our public spaces of the sort of
behavior that creates toxic environments for entire communities of people
who've been, both in recent and distant history, robbed of their "inherent
dignity"--inside as well as outside of library spaces. It is important,
then, that the American Library Association places within their Code of
Ethics a statement which vows to assert the necessary social uplift of our
public library spaces, so that staff (such as myself, queer and black) and
patrons (such as I once was, still queer and still black) may claim more
fully "the inherent dignity and rights of every person" and actually stand
equal to "all library users".

*Anthony Isom (they/them/theirs)*
Youth Services Librarian Assistant
Adrian District Library
143 East Maumee Street
Adrian MI 49221
aisom at adrian.lib.mi.us


On Thu, Aug 5, 2021 at 8:03 AM mweston dowagiacdl.org via Michlib-l <
michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:

> I'd like to support Karyn Ruley's concerns about ALA's most recent
> addition to their Code of Ethics.  Reading through the first eight
> principles, and into the first sentence of the ninth, there is a sense of
> the universal and of the common humanity we share with ourselves and our
> patrons.  "...all library users", "...each library user's rights", and "...the
> inherent dignity and rights of every person", changes dramatically in tone
> with "dismantle systemic and individual biases" and "advance racial and
> social justice".
>
> Absolutely this is worthy of discussion, and this is the place for it.
>
> Matt Weston, Library Director
>
> Dowagiac District Library
>
> 211 Commercial St.
>
> Dowagiac, MI  49047-1728
>
> 269-782-3826
>
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> Michlib-l at mcls.org
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>
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