IN DEPTH
Safe and inclusive: Putting principles into practice
Professional ethics and values underpin CILIP’s work – stemming from its Royal Charter, through to its latest action plan, We Are CILIP. Rob Green takes a look at his month’s launch of a new, practical guide for the profession that helps to put some of those principles into practice for public libraries and the wider sector.
CILIP’s new guidance on safe and inclusive spaces in public libraries focuses on protecting intellectual freedoms in an increasingly polarised world.
The new report, Managing Safe and Inclusive Public Library Services: A practi- cal guide, draws on the ethical foundations of librarianship and provides practical sup- port on how to implement and protect those freedoms for users.
The role of the public library is always
evolving – moving in tandem with society, culture and community to provide services for all users. Changing legislation can also impact on how services are delivered. And library workers must also consider other im- portant ethical issues, meaning there is not always a clear-cut solution. Instead, there is a balance to be struck and often it will be individual circumstances that dictate where that balance lies.
The latest guidance comes 15 years after the release of Guidance on the Management of Controversial Materials in Public Librar- ies, originally published by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) in 2008, and provides a comprehensive update. The aim is to create a decision-making tool covering a number of different service areas. It was funded in collaboration with Arts Council England and the updated guidance follows key principles set out in CILIP’s Ethi- cal Framework (
www.cilip.org.uk/ethics). CILIP Chief Executive Nick Poole said:
14 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor of Information Professional
“Libraries exist to ensure that everyone every- where enjoys the freedom to read, to ask questions and to learn, without fear or favour. In today’s increasingly polarised world, it is more important than ever to ensure that our sector is clear in its opposition to censorship and the promotion of the intellectual freedom of our users. Libraries should not be a place to hide from difficult ideas, but to ensure that difficult ideas can be critiqued in their proper context.”
“Thanks to the support of Arts Council England, we have provided this guidance as a point of reference for library workers everywhere on how to navigate increasingly challenging debates while remaining true to the core ethics and values of librarianship.”
That notion of intellectual freedom and access to challenging material is a key tenet of librarianship and helps to inform the guidance, which covers four main service areas:
l Development and management of library stock; September 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
