"Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do." Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart was an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1958-1981. Appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, he was replaced by Sandra Day O'Connor when he left the bench. A Michigan native, while on the bench he made major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment jurisprudence (guarding against unreasonable searches and seizures).Okay, okay... all that information came from Wikipedia.
I find his quote applicable to this week's readings because- that is the quandary of the librarian. It is a constant struggle between what we think we SHOULD do, what we MUST do, and what we are ALLOWED to do when it comes to providing access to information for our patrons. We talked a lot about this in SI 647. Professor Rieh presented us with situations that posed hypothetically dilemmas and the consequences of providing access to a patron, asking us what we would do and what we thought are our responsibilities would be. As a result of this exercise, I found myself with I slightly different point of view than my cohorts.
As a future school librarian- most of my patrons will be underage. Do I have any responsibility to inform a child's parents if she asks me for a book on suicide? Should I really provide access to these materials without first asking her purpose for wanting this type of information? Do I have a right, as a librarian, to ask? Do I have the responsibility as an adult to be concerned for her well-being? This is what the ALA Code of Ethics is trying to address. As the introduction to the Code of Ethics explains, "expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making[, t]hese statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations". As a librarian serving young patrons, I intend to provide access to all materials requested, BUT if I have concerns about the child's well-being or the safety of others I also have the responsibility as a caring adult to do "what is right to do" and raise any concerns I may have, first with the student, and then (if necessary) address the proper chain of command in my school. Actually, as a certified teacher in the State of Michigan- I am required to do this. This responsibility directly conflicts with statements I, II, III and VII of the ALA's Code of Ethics. How do I reconcile this? This is where Lenker's article helps me out... my "path must be traveled with care" (p.51).
Lenker's discussions of "vice" and "virtue" and his mini-lesson on theory was a bit dry, but it did help me understand that I DO have a responsibility to my patrons' well-being. Though he did not specifically address the particulars of dealing with underage patrons, he did address the conflict between blindly providing information to a patron without even considering the implications of doing so and how "complete disregard for the potential moral import of a patron’s intentions amounts to a robotic obedience to a patron’s demands that is best characterized as mindless" (p.48). I have a responsibility to consider the consequences of my actions.
In addition to the ALA Code of Ethics I HAVE to consider the policies of my library, my school, my district, and my state- because I must weigh the implications to ALL stakeholders as I make my judgements (p. 47). I believe that I will make every effort to provide my patrons with requested information, but if it is objectionable (in the sense that I feel it might be threatening to my patron or to others), with a degree of tolerance, I should make an effort to determine the patron's intent. This course of action is a violation of privacy because a patron's intentions could be innocent, but "[c]ooperation with patron requests is not necessarily consistent with excellent reference service" (p.50). Sigh... it IS a treacherous path.
Readings:
Lenker, Mark. "Dangerous Questions at the Reference Desk: A Virtue Ethics Approach". Journal of Information Ethics. 17.1 (2008) : 43–53. Print.
It's interesting to see how your hypothetical scenarios line up with those in other professions. For example, doctors have doctor-patient privilege and lawyers have attorney-client privilege, but both of those types of privilege may be violated by the doctor or by the attorney if there is some question of harm coming to the person or the person harming someone else. Would you say something similar of all librarians, or of school librarians in particular?
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