Head Tale

“Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.” – Jean Anouilh, Ardele

“We can and do spend too much time worrying whether librarianship is a craft or an art, a job or a profession, irrespective of whether it is one or the other, all or none, librarianship has three major values: service, intellectual freedom, and preservation of the cultural record.  We seek to serve each user of the library by supplying the collections that she or he needs and the assistance necessary to gain the most out of those collections.  We stand with every legal expression of thought and the unalienable right to make those expressions.  We care deeply about the preservation and onward transmission of the cultural record and do what we can to ensure that the baton is not dropped on our lap. 

These are noble ideals and they do not arise from a void.  Many librarians hew to these values because they are altruistic; others because they think of them as a natural part of the profession they chose.  My believe is that the force behind these ideas and the reason so many struggle to overcome adversities and realize these values is: dare I say it? – love.  A committed librarian is a person who loves humanity and seeks to help individuals and society; a person who loves learning and the achievements of humankind; and, above all, a person who loves truth.  There is a librarianship of love and, often unknowingly, we practice it daily.” 

I will hold in my heart the values that define librarianship. 

– Michael Gorman in Our Singular Strengths