This I Believe: An LIS Student Perspective 1

My friend and OCLC colleague Nancy Lensenmayer also teaches in the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science. One of her class assignments was to ask her students to write “This I Believe” essays similar to what Joan and I posted here in July. I offered to post any essays that students wanted to share.

This essay is from Marie Corbitt.

- George

This I believe

When I was a child, I would go to the library, choose new books to read, and then go home. I did not spend much time there or think much about the librarians within the walls. The library was the access point to my beloved books and that was all. As I grew up, I thought being a librarian was a smart choice because of my love for books, but then something happened.

I joined Literacy AmeriCorps for one year of service and tutored 20 students from 5 different countries in ESL. Talking to them, learning about them, and connecting them to resources they needed was far more exciting and rewarding than any book I had ever read. I fell in love with them and they changed my life just as much, if not more, than I did theirs. But I did notice one thing: despite my encouragement, they never wanted to go to libraries. Why not? Some of them were illegal immigrants who did not want to chance getting a library card because they did not trust the libraries. Some thought the librarians would mistreat them since they did not speak English very well. And some did not know how to use computers, so thought they would not be able to access the libraries. I was shocked.

No person should ever feel unwelcome in a library anywhere in the world. In order to effectively do so, librarians have a responsibility to serve all information seekers who come to them, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, language, skill level, legal status, or economic background. Libraries should play a large role in educating themselves and the public about other cultures and traditions around the world. They should collaborate with each other globally and locally by creating exchange programs, training programs, and conferences. More developed libraries should help less developed countries create welcoming libraries with proper technology, books, and trained librarians who will fight for their user’s right to information. Librarians and libraries have the ability to be incredible tools of continuing education and community involvement, regardless of where they are located.

The United States has a wonderful library system that is dedicated to fighting for the user’s right to information and protecting the user’s privacy. Indeed, the libraries of our country provide an incredibly strong backbone to our body of democracy. But it is not a perfect system. Progress still needs to be made as our population becomes increasingly diverse. Why is there not more diversity in the Library and Information Science profession? Why do some people feel unwanted in libraries? It is our job to discover those obstacles and then find ways to eliminate them.

I believe libraries have the potential to change the lives of their users, and therefore change the world. And I believe I can help libraries reach their potential. Not because of my love for books, but because of my love for people.