ALACoreValues:EducationandLifelongLearning

LIS701
KarinStefans
July30,2014

AccordingtotheAmericanLibraryAssociationssecondeditionofCoreValuesof
Librarianship,
ALApromotesthecreation,maintenance,andenhancementofalearningsociety,
encouragingitsmemberstoworkwitheducators,governmentofficials,andorganizations
incoalitionstoinitiateandsupportcomprehensiveeffortstoensurethatschool,public,
academic,andspeciallibrariesineverycommunitycooperatetoprovidelifelonglearning
servicestoall.

Elmborg,J.(2010).Literacies,narratives,andadultlearninginlibraries.
NewDirectionsFor
Adult&ContinuingEducation
,(127),6776.RetrievedfromEBSCOHostdatabase.

JimElmborgsgoalinLiteracies,Narrative,andAdultLearninginLibraries,isto
encourageacademiclibrarianstoreconsiderbothhowtheyservetheirpatronsandtheirrolesas
criticalliteracyeducators.MuchofElmborgsarticleincludeshisobservationsofstudent
learningandschoolsuccessaswellasdiscussionsofteachingpracticesthathefindsimportant
andrelevanttolibrariansaseducators.Heusestheseanecdotestosupporthisclaimthat
librariansshouldbecriticalinformationeducators,andhereferencespedagogicaltheoriesto
explainhowlibrariansshouldgoaboutdoingthis.
Bywayofintroducinghistopics,Elmborgdescribeshisbackgroundasahighschool
Englishteacherandanundergraduatecompositionprofessor.Duringthiswork,Elmborg
observedtheimportanceknowinghowtoplaythegameofbeingastudent.Hesawnumerous
intelligentstudentsfailinschoolbecausetheydidnothavehavethehighschoolorcollege
successskillsthatotherstudents,duetotheirpreviousexperiencesandbackgrounds,innately
possessed.

Elmborgexpandsonthisphenomenonbydescribingsomepedagogicalideasthathe
relatesbacktolibraryandinformationscience.HeexplainsthatthedevelopmentoftheWriting
Processwasgroundbreakingbecauseifallstudentsweretaughtthestagesofwriting,students
whohadnotfiguredoutforthemselvesanefficientprocesstoproducegreatwritingwerenot
inevitablydoomedtofailure.ElmborgnotesthatotherLISprofessionalshavedescribedstepsof
theresearchprocesstoaidstudentsininformationseeking.Breakingcomplextasksintosteps
andexplicitlyteachingthestepsgivespeoplefromawidevarietyofbackgroundsandskilllevels
thetoolstosucceed.
However,simplyprovidingstepsdoesnotnecessarilyaccommodatestudentsdifferent
backgrounds,whichaffecthowstudentsreacttolearning.OneofthekeyconceptsinElmborgs
articleisthewaythathedefinesliteracy.ElmborgusesGees(1999)definitionthatliteracyis,
anentirerepertoireofperformancesappropriatetosocialsituations.Inshort,literacyisthe
collectionofskillsandknowledgethatapersonneedsinordertobeaninsiderinagivengroup,
whichElmborgcallsacommunity.Eachindividualhasdifferentliteraciesandmayormaynot
beliterateinaspecificcommunity.Therefore,Elmborgclaimsthatlibrariansaseducatorsneed
tofocusmoreonworkingwiththestudentandtrulyunderstandingthestudentsexistingskills,
preferences,andneeds,insteadofbeingtheexpertwhopoursknowledgeintoallstudentsinthe
samemanner.
ElmborgsupportshisdiscussionofpedagogywithreferencestotheworksofLev
VygotskyandPaoloFreire.Vygotskysaysthatpeoplelearnbestbyinteractingwithpeerswho
areslightlymoreadvancedthanthem,notfromexpertswhooverwhelmthem.Freireemphasizes
thatliteracyandknowledgeareessentialforindependenceandselfconfidence.Giventhesetwo

viewsandhisexperiencesasaneducator,Elmborgtakesthestancethatlibrariesmustbeplaces
wherepeoplearetaughttheskillstofind,evaluate,anduseinformation,andthatlibrariansmust
teachinawaythatrespectsthelearnersexistingknowledgeandconsidersthelearnerasan
individual.Helpinginformationseekersbuildontheirexistingliteraciesrespectfullyand
encouragingthemtoaskquestionsisparamount.
Shiftinghisfocusfromhowtoteachtowhattoteach,Elmborgstatesthatheisnotsure
whetheracademiclibrariansarespendingmostoftheirtimeteachingcriticalliteracyorare
simplybestowinginformationontheirpatrons.Teachingcriticalinformationliteracy,orcritical
literacy,meanshelpingpeoplelearntheskillsthattheyneedinordertobecomeaninsiderofthe
academiccommunity.Thedesiredoutcomeofteachingcriticalliteracyistoempowerlearners.
AccordingtoElmborg,inthepast,Librarianssawthemselvesasneutral,aconduitfrom
questiontoanswer(72).Theyhadspecialtoolsthattheyusedtohelppeopleandgavegood
answerswithoutnecessarilyencouragingcriticalthinking.Elmborgclaimsthatthisisbecause
librariansareprofessionalsprofessionalshavetheobligationtoactinthebestinterestsoftheir
clientsbecausetheclientscannotactforthemselves.

However,Elmborgbelievesthatlibrariansneedtochangetheirattitudes.Herecountsa
referenceinterviewduringwhichastudentaskedforinformationtoshowthattheexistenceofa
ConfederateflagontopofastatehouseinSouthCarolina,whichwasacontroversialsituation,
representedprideinsteadofbigotry.Elmborghelpedthestudentfindthedesiredinformation,but
alsodiscussedwithhimthemeaningofsymbols,thewaysacademicsprovetheirclaims,andthe
notabilityofconflictingviewpoints.Thisexchangeisanexampleofalibrarianhelpingastudent
improvenotonlyhisinformationliteracy,buthiscriticalthinkingskills.

Thus,Elmborgspropositionisthatinordertoempowerpatrons,librariansmustteach
criticalinformationliteracybyworkingwithstudentsinacollaborativemanner.Intheirroleas
educators,librariansmustconsiderstudentsasuniquehumanssothattheycanprovidestrategies
thatvaluestudentspreexistingknowledgeandallowthestudentstobecomecritically
informationliterate.Helpingpeoplebymakingahumanconnectionismoreimportantthan
findingacorrectanswerbecausethepatrons,nottheinformationorthelibrariansthemselves,are
theheartofthelibrary.
Dr.JimElmborgisanassociateprofessoroflibraryandinformationscienceatthe
UniversityofIowawhoseareasofinterestandexpertiseincludecriticalinformationliteracy,
technology,andpedagogy.Hehaswonmultipleawardsonhisscholarlyarticles.Givenhis
credentials,heisareliablesourcetospeakonthistopic,andhissuggestionsforacademiclibrary
reformshouldbeintentlyconsidered.
Librarystudentsarebeingtaughttheimportanceofeducatingpatronstoimprove
informationliteracy,buttheymayneedadditionalpedagogicalinstructiontoensurethattheir
patrons,especiallythosewithoutlibraryorschoolliteracies,trulydobecomeinformation
literate.Inordertodoabetterjobofteaching,librariansneedtothinkcarefullyabouttheskills
theyknowandareabletodo,aswellashowtheyknowhowtocompleteacertaintask.
Determiningwhattheyknowandhowtheyknowitwillallowlibrarianstomakecomplex
processesmoreaccessibletoeveryonebycreatingscaffoldedstepsthatstudentscanuse.Inthis
way,allstudentswillhaveafairopportunitytobecomeinformationliterate.
Inadditiontoknowinghowtofindandevaluateinformation,studentsneedtoknowhow
toasktherightquestions.Elmborgsarticleexplainsthatstudentswhoknowhowtoaskbetter

questionsgetbetteranswersfromlibrarians.Aspartofcriticalliteracy,itisessentialtoteach
patronshowtofigureouttheirquestionsandconstructthemwell.Librariansunderstandthe
importanceofthereferenceinterview,butwhynotgivethepatronstheskillsthatmakethe
referenceinterviewmoreproductiveandefficient?Ifacademiclibrariansteachsuchcritical
literacyskills,thiswillhaveavalidreasontorequestfacultystatus,andtheirteachingability
willneedtobeevaluatedastheybecomeequalpartslibrarianandeducator.
EventhoughElmborgspecificallydiscussedacademiclibrariesandcriticalliteracy,his
suggestionsarenotlimitedtoonespecifictypeoflibraryandcanbeextendedtocontinued
educationingeneral.Publicandschoollibrariansmustconsiderhowtheycaneducatetheir
patrons.Mostimportantly,librariansneedtoviewtheirpatronsasuniqueindividualswith
differentskills,ideas,andperspectivestoofferthelargercommunity.Iflibrarianskeepthisin
mind,theywillbeabletofostercollaborativegroups,eitherthroughprogrammingorsimplyby
havingopendoors,inwhichbothlibrariansandpatronswithdifferentliteraciescancome
togethertolearnfromeachother.Afterall,Eachpersonwhocomestothelibrarytolearnand
growisthecenterofthelibrary.Thelibrariansroleistolocatethatcenterandtohelpbuildand
solidifyit,puttingadultsinchargeoftheirownlearning,lettingthemarticulatewhattheywant
toknowandhowtheywanttoknowit(Elmborg,2010,7576).

References
CoreValuesofLibrarianship.(2004).
AmericanLibraryAssociation
.RetrievedJuly10,2014,
fromhttp://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/corevalues
Elmborg,J.(2010).Literacies,narratives,andadultlearninginlibraries.
NewDirectionsFor
Adult&ContinuingEducation
,(127),6776.RetrievedfromEBSCOHostdatabase.
Gee,J.P.(1999).
Anintroductiontodiscourseanalysis:Theoryandmethod
.London:Routledge.
UniversityofIowa.(n.d.).
Schooloflibraryandinformationscience:Elmborg,Jim
.Retrieved
July27,2014,fromhttp://slis.grad.uiowa.edu/researchprofiles/elmborgjim