The Interview

My focus for this course is on discrimination in academic libraries, and I have a preference for large, urban libraries. I reached out to the library at a major urban university and conducted this interview via email. My interviewee was candid and thoughtful with their answers, particularly concerning a recent patron interaction that I will describe here.

A patron approached my interviewee looking to learn how to perform demographic research in order to develop a business plan for a small business. The patron was planning to focus the business on offering educational classes, but also to sell books, DVDs, and other items. It happens that the business being developed was a sex shop.

My interviewee felt this was a clear-cut case where personal and professional ethics could collide, and that it was their job, as a professional, to help equip the patron with training on how to find the needed information. Afterward, the patron emailed my interviewee and told them that this consultation was the first time they had been treated respectfully and provided with the information they sought. My interviewee was appalled to learn that other professionals hadn't acted in a professional manner. They chose to respond to the patron with a copy of the ALA Code of Ethics and the suggestion that if the patron was later faced with unprofessional behavior to mention the Code of Ethics to that person.

I feel that my interviewee handled this situation well and with the determination to maintain their professional ethics and to not discriminate against the patron based on the patron's planned business. My interviewee kept personal ethics separate from professional, and focused on the job at hand: teaching the patron how to find the needed information and resources. I further appreciate my interviewee's desire and ability to follow up with the patron and provide further information about how the patron's requests should have been handled by other library professionals. I think it can be very important, as a librarian, to have the ability to keep personal separate from professional and to focus on the patron's perspective and the information they seek.

I entered this class hoping to learn how to see things from other's perspectives, how to openly listen and to respectfully communicate regardless of differences. Conducting this interview was quite helpful in remiding me to maintain that separation of personal and professional. While I am generally willing to acknowledge that there are many different sides to an experience, I appreciate hearing stories of what others have done and learning that yes, people are capable of doing their jobs even when they disagree with each other.