The recent message posted to the list by Ruth Parlin (concerning the
Boy Scouts and Mark Estes' insensitivity in asking for help on their
behalf) disturbed me deeply. Surely she is not suggesting that we
limit our work to those whose political and social views we find
acceptable? I was taught in library school and by experience that we have a
professional obligation to assist everyone that we can, regardless
of why they wanted the information. Or perhaps this is naive; perhaps
there is a new wave of librarian emerging, one who selects patrons on
such criteria and dismisses those found unworthy.
I do not screen my patrons for opinions or practices that I may find offensive.
Nor do I do so when seeking assistance for them from a fellow
librarian. And while I respect Ms. Parlin's desire to effect a change
in the Boy Scouts' policies, what she is asking us to do is to
restrict communication to those topics that she finds acceptable (and
her views of acceptable are certainly not shared by all the
participants on this list). It is incumbent upon all of us to
separate our personal beliefs from our professional ones and to not
confuse the two.
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