[Libs-Or] Library Neutrality

[Matthew Baiocchi]

They're probably going to take away my MLIS for not knowing this.


I've been thinking a lot about library neutrality and what it means, and it occurred to me that I've never seen a really good definition of library neutrality. I can't find it "written down anywhere official" as a core tenet of our profession. I've looked all over ALA and OLA. I've looked at library professionals' presentations, statements, and blog posts. I checked Google Scholar and looked at articles I had access to. I haven't checked out books yet but that's because we don't have any in our library system.


Does library neutrality mean political neutrality? Ethical neutrality? Social neutrality? Is it a description of how we ensure intellectual freedom? Does it mean we don't let our own viewpoints cloud service to patrons? Some of these? All? None?


So, anyone have a good definition of library neutrality? Anyone know where this core tenet of our profession originates?


Thank you, as always, for listening. Happy Thursday, all!


Matthew Baiocchi
REFERENCE LIBRARIAN
__

City of Lincoln City  |  Driftwood Public Library
801 SW Hwy 101  |  PO Box 50  |  Lincoln City, OR
P: 541.996.1261  |  E: mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org<mailto:mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org>
W: Driftwoodlib.org | W: LincolnCity.org

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