Reflections on Portable MLIS Chapter 1

Chapter 1 in The Portable MLIS reviews some historic examples of libraries and presents a brief overview of the author's view of librianship. I enjoyed the brief tour of ancient libraries and the discussion of the roots of modern American public libraries and found it to be useful background information. Unfortunately, I found it very difficult to absorb the author's instructional points on librarianship as I was often distracted by the style and viewpoint in which they were framed.

The author's statement about libraries and the maturation of a society was succinct and illuminating:

"To some extent, libraries represent a cultural exclamation point: evidence that the society has matured beyond subsistence and social simplicity. They establish a standard signifying a society's development."

This mirrors some of my own thoughts recently on the nature and purpose of libraries and information accessibility, and I was pleased to see such an eloquent statement similar to my own ideas.

However, I have several problems with the author's take on librarianship and a belief in intellectual freedom. He indicates that the librarian should, in an effort to serve all patrons equally, disavow herself of strongly held beliefs -- other than the acceptable one of a commitment to intellectual freedom. The author even seems to have a disdain for declarative sentences in his (ironic) assertion that "it is arrogant to assume that one can know the 'truth' about many matters of importance in this world." In his zeal to ensure that librarians assist patrons of all stripes with equal objectivity, he in fact insults and condescends. As another example, this zeal also seeks to place intellectual freedom above the rights of parental authority and common sense, and ignores his own later arguments for the greater good. While I realize that the thorny topics of intellectual freedom and restriction to information access are much more complex than this author's treatment of them, and much more nuanced than my own reflection here, I cannot agree with the author's ham-fisted dismissal of more moderate understandings on the subject.


Rubin, R. (2008). Stepping Back and Looking Forward: Reflections on the Foundations of Libraries and Librarianship. In K. Haycock and B. Sheldon (Ed.), The Portable MLIS: Insights From the Experts (pp. 3-14). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.