The philosophy of Librarianship is what drew me into dreaming of obtaining my MLIS degree. I never believed I would have the opportunity to attain this level of education as I am a first-generation college graduate in my family. Neither of my parents finished High School. They married at the age of sixteen and started their family. My father was a mechanic and my mother a domestic worker. They each later obtained their GED’s which allowed them to obtain better jobs to take care of the family and live decently. My mother worked in the school system as a Building superintendent supervisor for over 25 years and my father drove a truck for a living until retirement. So, growing up my goals were always based on doing more and achieving more to help my family live comfortably within our means. At first, I was just focusing on graduating high school and finding a decent job. I did those things early and by my early twenties I knew I needed to continue my education and try college if I wanted to get married and start my own family. So long story short I did try college early, got married and had two children all while working a full-time job. I often wonder if I had gone straight to college instead of working how my outcome in life may have been different. I do know I would not have gained so much life experience in the workforce or not have realized I was drawn to helping others.

We as future Librarians will provide a service to the community no matter what setting we work in, whether it be Academic, a school library, Archives, or a Public Library. Our mission is to focus on serving the community at large, to advance the ability to send and receive essential information without judgement. Rubin and Rubin explain the Core values of librarianship as Access, Confidentiality/Privacy, Democracy, Diversity, Education and Lifelong Learning, Intellectual Freedom, The Public Good, Preservation, Professionalism, Service, Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

The three core values that speak to me at this moment it time are service, lifelong learning and social responsibility. So, my personal Philosophy of Librarianship and what it means to me is about service, life-long learning and the opportunity for me to help promote social responsibility. Service is defined by the ALA in Rubin as “we provide the highest level of service to all library users. We strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of coworkers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession.” (Rubin, 2020, p. 549) The value of service has always called to me as I get joy from being of service to others. The second core value is Education and Lifelong Learning. “ALA promotes the creation, maintenance, and enhancement of a learning society, encouraging its members to work with educators, government officials, and organizations in coalitions to initiate and support comprehensive efforts to ensure that school, public, academic, and special libraries in every community cooperate to provide lifelong learning.” (Rubin, 2020, p. 549) Because I consider myself a lifelong learner this core value resonates with me personally. Lifelong learning provides opportunities for those who engage in it to achieve and overcome obstacles that otherwise would derail or sidetrack one’s personal growth and full potential to achieve wonderful things in life. The last core value calling to me is Social Responsibility. “ALA recognizes its broad social responsibilities. The broad social responsibilities of the American Library Association are defined in terms of the contribution that librarianship can make in ameliorating or solving the critical problems of society; support for efforts to help inform and educate the people of the United States on these problems and to encourage them to examine the many views on and the facts regarding each problem; and the willingness of the ALA to take a position on current critical issues with the relationship to libraries and library service set forth in the position statement.” (Rubin, 2020, p. 549) Being able to help educate, and support one’s communities during times of crisis or economic struggle feels of imperative importance to me after surviving COVID for the past two years. These core values resonate with me and are the focus of my philosophy. I will help provide a service to the community, promote lifelong learning through education without judgement while encouraging social responsibility.

References
Rubin, R. E. (2020). Foundations of library and information science. ALA Neal-Schuman.