Values
ALA's Core Values articulate our profession’s principles and highest aspirations. They guide and unite library workers, including staff, volunteers, trustees, advocates, and others who contribute their talents, expertise, and dedication to furthering the library mission.
These values have helped guide me over 42 years of working in, leading, and designing libraries:
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Growing up my siblings and I always knew our mother was “differently” abled but never truly appreciated her struggle until years later. From being a secretary told by her employer that they would not pay for her college tuition because she was a woman, to the snow that blocked her handicapped parking space at the local university and ultimately discouraged her from completing her PhD in systems engineering (pre-ADA laws), I think of her frequently when considering accessibility. When working with architects I always challenge them to go beyond ADA. All of my library’s locations have automatic entry doors, airport style doorless restrooms, and drive-up windows.
I am also proud that my library system, which is funded by two local municipalities, was able to retain and host our subregional library for the blind services for our entire county on a contractual basis starting in 2012.
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One of the greatest joys of working in a library is figuring out how to meet the needs of people with so many different backgrounds, economic situations, interests, abilities, and values. My library team has worked hard to identify segments of our community whose needs merit additional outreach and resources to bring the library to the community.
My library was selected by the White House as one of 60 libraries to pilot the ConnectEd Library Challenge ensuring that every student in the 6 school districts we serve has a virtual library card. Our project has inspired cooperative efforts with 20 other public libraries in our area eliminating the barrier of overlapping school district boundaries.
On a related professional concern, it is clear that much is still needed to recruit and diversity our profession. I was proud to secure funding for five PLA Spectrum scholarships when I chaired the PLA Recruitment of Public Librarians committee. Spectrum is clearly a program that works as all five scholars continue to thrive in their careers in libraries.
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I have been a member of the Freedom to Read Foundation since my first year of library school 24 years ago. As an ALA Policy Corps Fellow, I have been involved in anti-censorship efforts at the national and state level through Unite Against Book Bans. In September I had the great pleasure of talking about the censorship crisis as a “warm up” act to NYT bestselling author Jodie Picoult.
Subsequently an article was written in the Detroit Free Press: Rubin: In Traverse City, author Jodi Picoult shares her fight against book-banners” Detroit Free Press, September 29, 2024
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I believe that libraries are an essential community service. I was incredibly happy to see FEMA make this change in legal defintion for funding eligibility several years ago. The notion of libraries as hubs of the community never struck home harder than when I attended the ALA Conference in 2006 in New Orleans. We were the first major convention to come back to the city after hurricane Katrina.
In 2009 I became heavily involved in grassroots advocacy in my hometown when library service was all but eliminated due to a contract dispute and subsequent lawsuit. Thankfully the contracting library won the lawsuit at the Michigan Supreme Court but it also left my community without a local library. After three millage campaigns we finally succeeded and secured a contract with another high-quality library and library services have been great ever since.
It was a long three years but made it crystal clear to me that every community deserves a good library and that sometimes we have to stand up and fight for what’s right. My efforts were kindly recognized by members of the community: First Citizen Larry Neal Leads Bloomfield Hills’ Library Effort, Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce, November 28, 2011
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I believe that the library has a role in the community to demonstrate best practices in sustainability whenever possible. Some initiatives my library have undertaken are quick and simple such as circulating canvas bags for checking out books. Others are long-term. Both our North Branch that opened in 2021 and the Main Library that is being renovated, both have geothermal systems. The Main Library will also have photovoltaic cells on the flat roof. Our new outreach van will be a Ford Transport EV.