Reading the foundational texts of both
Green and Dewey on the yet-to-be named “reference services,” it illuminated for
me how the original hopes for reference librarianship truly transformed our
understandings of information access. The rhetoric of Green definitely demonstrated
his belief that “personal assistance” was fundamental to the profession, as he
gave example after example of situations where a patron needed help securing an
obscure, or quite ordinary, source that pertained to both random curiosities as
well as vocational queries. I found it interesting that Green admits that
librarians are not all-knowing, yet he implies they must give the appearance that they are! He mentions a personal
experience where he remembers “slyly consulting a dictionary to find out what a
‘cam’ is…” [1] This clandestine method of approaching and guiding patrons also
applies to finding books when patrons ask for help, as the librarian (or the
library assistant in this case) must not consult with patrons all the time, but
they must appear as if their help is incidental and
given freely, not because of a requirement. [2]
Another aspect of this essay that I found
interesting is that Green desires for the librarian to be a neutral force, yet
at the same time the librarian is also supposed to bestow some sort of
enlightenment upon the patron. Beyond directing patrons to their sources,
Green’s ideal librarian also imparts some wisdom in a both scholarly and
paternal way. For instance, one of Green’s illustrations depicts a young man
engaging in a debate society, where not only does the librarian direct him to
resources, the librarian also reminds the young man that “in order to become a
successful debater he must also consider both sides of a question, and weigh
the arguments of opponents.” [3] This situation of a librarian giving advice
not related to the reference search seemed so strange and out of place to me.
The concept of the enlightened librarian imparting wisdom though, fit into
Green’s ideals precisely because he saw it was the librarian’s duty to place
their patrons “on a footing of equality” [4] with themselves when confronted
with what they perceived as ignorance. This idea related to Dewey’s fixation in
his essay that public education and the library were intertwined. The contribution
of the library to lifelong learning was paramount, in Dewey’s eyes, and the
librarian facilitated this learning. As Dewey states, “When a bright boy or
girl has been once found and interested and started, he is almost sure to
continue under these influences all his life.” [5] I agree with Dewey and
Green’s aspirations that libraries and librarians can greatly influence the
education of a growing mind, yet I am unsure if I agree with the notion that
the librarian must play some sort of paternalistic, enlightened role in
achieving this goal.
--
[1] Green, S.S. (1876).
“Personal relations between librarians and readers.” American Library Journal 1: p. 77.
[2] Green, “Personal relations
between librarians and readers,” p. 79.
[3] Green, “Personal relations
between librarians and readers,” p. 76.
[4] Green, “Personal relations
between librarians and readers,” p. 80.
[5] Dewey, M. (1888).
“Libraries as Related to the Educational Work of the State.”
The paternalistic thread through Dewey and Green is certainly pronounced, and tricky. Of course measuring it against contemporary norms this bent is downright sexist and elitist. Yet it seems at least partially rooted in a kind of activist brand of civitas that has the public good firmly in mind. I can say that my interest in the field of librarianship is partly rooted in similar aspirations. That said, it seems there must be room for some of this "improving" motivation without taking it to the paternalistic extremes that these fathers of the field do.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Green mentioned librarians should appear all knowing. I found it odd how I held two views on the concept. In our observation paper I felt the interaction went better when the staff/librarian came off ask extremely knowledgeable and went worse when they simple googled something they did not know. However, I felt the complete opposite when I read Green and put myself in the librarians shoes. In these shoes, I though "no way can I know everything!". Combining these things, I don't think a librarian has to appear all knowing, but rather appear comfortable finding any piece of information with efficiency and confidence.
ReplyDelete