A Library Primer

I want to capture something I spent the past day-and-a-half drafting as potential training content for my library system. I'm sure it will change and morph before being implemented, but I enjoy it in this state and want to preserve the thoughts.

Unpacking the Library's Mission and Vision: An Introduction to the Library Perspective

Mission
[Our] County Library provides access to ideas, information, experiences and materials that support and enrich people's lives.
 
Vision
[Our] County Library creates an environment for people to learn, to explore, to enjoy, to create, to connect.
 
Values

• Customer needs come first. We place the highest priority on service to our customers and treat every request with equal value.
  
• People are respected. We recognize the contributions of our staff and we treat all our customers and each other with respect.
  
• Access to information is ensured. We ensure access to information for people of all ages, abilities and means.
  
• This is a learning organization. We commit to the professional growth and enrichment of our staff and volunteers.
  
• Freedom of information is protected. We protect your freedom to read and view all library information.
  
• Privacy and confidentiality are rights. We safeguard your right to request and obtain information in confidence.
  
• Basic services are provided without charge. We provide basic library services free of charge.
  
• Quality service is important. We strive to deliver the highest quality services possible.
  
• Integrity is a commitment. We follow the highest ethical standards which have been adopted by [our] County government and our profession.
  
• We are stewards of community resources. We respect the contributions of the community to its library. We hold ourselves accountable for the efficient and effective use of all resources which you commit to us -- people, time, assets and funds.
  

 

"I really want to take thirty seconds to salute librarians: you truly are the heroes and heroines of free speech and of democracy. You are on the front lines. It takes a great deal of intellectual courage and principle. All of us who care about democracy and civil liberties and freedom of speech and thought are completely dependent on and grateful to you."
 

Nadine Strossen, a leading voice on free speech and civil liberties:

• President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for 18 years,
• The first woman to lead the ACLA,
• American Law professor at New York Law School
• A senior fellow at FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression,
• 2023 of the Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award for free speech from the National Coalition Against Censorship,
• Author of several influential books about freedom of speech, including The War on Words.

From "The War on Words: A recorded conversation with Nadine Strossen and [our collection development manager" at [our] County Library on May 6, 2026 (available in the LMS).

Let’s unpack [our] County Library.
 
The library of [our] County. The library belonging to [our] County.
 
Who or what is “[our] County?” The residents of the geographical area. So, more specifically: The library belonging to the residents of [our] County. Paid for by anyone who resides in [our] County. Owned by “the public.” Governed (ultimately) by officials elected by the residents of [our] County to represent them.
 
The Library is truly a public, democratic organization. The citizens of [our] County have, through those appointed and hired by their elected representatives, chosen to create policies that allow all people to get library cards and make use of the library. All people. In essence, everyone who walks through our doors or in any other way interacts with us becomes part of our “public,” JoCo resident or not.
 
That leads to the first item in our list of values, customer needs come first. The library is a community resource owned collectively by the public. Anyone who wants gets to use the library because it belongs to them. Our purpose is to facilitate their use of it. They pay us to help them access what is theirs.
 
In a business setting, a “customer” is a potential owner of the items or services on offer. The goal of the business is to create an exchange where the customer chooses to pay them. The business doesn’t exist if it can’t get customers to pay. The business must inherently have that self-serving need to get others to part with their money, which can sometimes compete with the customers’ needs.
 
That economic exchange has already occurred in the library. Our “customers” have already bought and paid for the library. We already work for them. In theory, the library has no needs of its own. Our only purpose is to serve the public. To serve each and every person who interacts with us. That need comes first.
 
Much of the time we use the word “patron” to describe library users to help us keep in mind that subtle but important distinction from the business-oriented meaning of “customer.” It’s a shift in perspective, an orientation for considering everything else. We’re not exchanging or transacting with our customers, we’re serving them.

Some thoughts at the junction where people are respected and we are stewards of community resources intersect.

 
Each person who uses the library owns it; and, at the same time, they share that ownership with everyone else who also uses it. They can check out materials and access all our other offerings for free (basic services are provided without charge) because those things already belong to them; and they must be responsible for those items and return them in a timely manner so each of the other owners gets an equal chance for their own access and use. Each person has individual rights and is also responsible for not infringing on the rights of others.
 
The library is based on sharing and taking turns. Much of our work is maintaining that system of sharing and taking turns.
 
A helpful concept for collection development and readers’ advisory is that of “windows” and “mirrors.” In the library we like to talk about how books function as windows and as mirrors.
 
A book that is a mirror is one that you see yourself in. It’s comfortable and familiar and it makes you feel seen. It validates you, because it is someone else sharing experiences you know and feelings you have, and in doing so affirming that you are not alone. It makes you feel connected to the story, to the storyteller, and to others who also recognize themselves in that book. It affirms and represents your values and worldview.
 
A book that is a window is one that helps you see outside of yourself. It relates experiences you’ve never known, feelings you’ve never dealt with, perspectives you’ve never considered. It takes you somewhere else, gives you an opportunity to know life as someone you’ve never been. It is about other people, those with different values, interests, and worldviews.
 
The library has a responsibility to provide both windows and mirrors for every member of the public. Each person contributes to what we buy and how we choose to use their money, so we should make sure that each person sees us buying and doing things they would for themselves.  We should provide each person with mirrors. As a collective body, though, the public contains a multitude of values, interests, and worldviews—so each person will find a large amount of our collection and services are windows from their individual perspective. Those perspectives might seem strange to them, or even detrimental or offensive; but as long as some community individual finds value in it—and it meets the standards of our collection development policy—we have a responsibility to provide it.

 
Informing our guiding statements as an underlying foundation is the idea of intellectual freedom. The American Library Association’s website describes intellectual freedom as the rights of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Intellectual freedom is a core value of the library profession, and a basic right in our democratic society. A publicly supported library provides free, equitable, and confidential access to information for all people of its community. The ALA considers advocacy for intellectual freedom a substantial part of its mission and provides extensive support.
 
Two particular documents are at the top of any list of that support: the Library Bill of Rights and The Freedom to Read Statement. [our] County Library includes both in our Collection Development Policy and governing documents.
 
The Library Bill of Rights was initially adopted by the ALA in 1939 and has been periodically confirmed ever since. Its core tenets:
 

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

 

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

 

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

 

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

 

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

 

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

 

VII. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.

 
The Freedom to Read Statement was first issued in 1953. It is a longer document worth reading in its entirety; here are key excerpts:
 
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. . . .
 
Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. . . .
 
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. . . . We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.
 
The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
 
We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.
   
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.
   
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
   
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
   
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
   
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people's freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.
   
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a "bad" book is a good one, the answer to a "bad" idea is a good one.

As members of the collective public, as patrons do, staff will at times find a large amount of our collection and services are windows (not mirrors) from their personal perspectives; staff will encounter materials, viewpoints, or patron behaviors they personally disagree with. If an individual in the community finds value in it—and it meets the standards of our collection development policy—we have a responsibility to provide it. Public library service asks us to distinguish between our personal preferences and our responsibility to provide equitable access for the entire community.

Our mission statement makes clear the purpose of the library: [our] County Library provides access. “Provides access.” Access. One of our values is access to information is ensured. The Freedom to Read Statement and Library Bill of Rights are peppered with use of the words “access,” “provide,” “make available,” and similar.  The library itself is a collection of materials, spaces, and people paid for with the collective wealth of [our] County; the purpose of the library is to be available to that public. To be accessible. The library belongs to the people, and they get access to it.
 
Access means many things. It starts with the collection itself. Budgets always come with limits and constraints, and stewardship means responsible use of the budget. We have collection specialists who work hard to provide the right types and amounts of materials within the budgets they have to represent all of the different ideas and viewpoints needed in our collection. When patrons don’t find the materials they’re looking for, we offer them the Suggest for Purchase form and work to request it from a partner institution via Interlibrary Loan.
 
Access also means providing well-organized, pleasant, convenient spaces—both physical and digital. It means things are as easy to find as possible. And it means friendly staff who are happy to help them, both directly and indirectly. Staff who engage with them, listen to them, direct and assist them. Staff who make recommendations in displays and booklists, who are familiar enough with the collection to make recommendations in conversation.
 
When a patron is taking their turn using a part of the library, we often say they have checked it out. Patrons “check out” books, DVDs, video games, ebooks, newspaper access, database access, and all parts of the collection. They also “check out” pieces of equipment in the Maker Space by making reservations. In the same way, they “check out” rooms and spaces. And, in a sense, they “check out” staff.
 
Just like every other part of the library, staff is a resource available to patrons. We work for each one of them, and they get to take turns using our attention, expertise, and service. For the moments when staff are interacting with patrons, we are those patrons’ agents. Our goal is to understand, represent, and help meet those patrons’ needs (within the boundaries established by the patron code of behavior and the guideline of mutual respect) by helping them access the ideas, information, experiences and materials that support and enrich their lives.
 
Access means that both freedom of information is protected and that privacy and confidentiality are rights. Providing access means we look to say “yes” as much as possible (in consideration of the competing needs of others). We believe in free and open information, so if it is out there, we want to help patrons gain access to it. And we want to do so in ways that preserve the individual privacy and confidentiality of each patron. When we are “checked out” to a patron, we are there for them alone in that moment. While their ownership of the library is shared, their use of it is individual.
 
“Neutrality” is a big word in the library profession, one of our core ideals. The materials, services, and staff of the library are shared by a large community with a wide diversity of views and values, many of which are divergent. “Neutral” is a term that applies to the congregated, collective whole of the collection—and not necessarily each individual part. Every item, ultimately, is created by a person or group who exist in one place and time, which means every item will emerge from a particular perspective. Every item has a point of view, including blind spots and biases; even those aiming for neutrality can never entirely shed perspective. So, neutrality is not an individual trait, it is a collective one.
 
The first proposition of The Freedom to Read Statement says libraries are “to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions.” Neutrality emerges from the conversation between diverse viewpoints and experiences; it exists in the space in between them. By providing a good balance of perspectives, we keep that meeting area as centrally located as possible. That area is fluid as it constantly shifts and evolves; neutrality is an ongoing, often uncomfortable negotiation, not a static resting place. The library as a collective whole is neutral, and staff must dwell in that space when they are representing the library.
 
We must dwell in neutrality so that we can meet each patron in their own perspective. Patron ownership of the library is shared; their use is individual. When we help patrons, we let them determine the value of different viewpoints in order to provide them access to what they need. The Freedom to Read Statement says that the library rests on “the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans.” We trust our patrons, and we show that trust by providing them the greatest access possible.
 
The library does not exist to direct people toward approved conclusions; it exists to preserve conditions under which free people can explore, discover, judge, and choose for themselves.

Which leads to our vision: [Our] County Library creates an environment for people to learn, to explore, to enjoy, to create, to connect.
 
This speaks to the types of experiences we aspire to curate for our patrons; to the quality of their experiences, which we help create. It means we operate out of respect for every person (people are respected), providing each with quality service (quality service is important). In order to do so, we strive to be our best (integrity is a commitment) and always look for ways to be better (this is a learning organization).
 
The word “respect” shares a root with spectate, inspect, spectacles, perspective, and more. That root is all about looking and seeing. To re-spect (“look back”) means to look again, to look more closely. To re-spect a person means to look at them again in order to see them more clearly. It requires slowing down to escape our first impressions, assumptions, possible judgments, and potential responses. It means giving someone our focused attention and attending to them fully, and begins with looking, listening, and probing in order to understand them better. Respect means taking the time to understand their perspective enough to be able to operate from it. To walk in their shoes, to see from their eyes. It starts with curiosity.
 
Librarianship is in some ways about ensuring intellectual freedom and theoretical philosophies; yet in practice the heart of the work is relational care and facilitation of experiences. We provide quality service because our work is hospitality--we are hosts for those interacting with their collection, spaces, and services. We want those experiences to be stellar. Patrons should feel they are treated with dignity and made to feel at home.
 
Because if intellectual freedom relies on our ability to trust patrons, the patron experience using the library depends on their ability to trust us. The library only functions if the public:

• trusts staff not to judge them,
• trusts privacy will be respected,
• trusts access won’t depend on ideology,
• trusts the collection reflects many lives,
• trusts resources are being stewarded fairly, and
• trusts that the institution belongs to everyone, not just the loudest or most culturally dominant group.

We earn this trust through our constant, common, mundane actions. Smiles and consistent friendliness to make people feel welcome. Attention and assistance when asked for. Maintaining clean, pleasant, well-designed spaces and an organized, accessible collection. Creating appealing displays, lists, and interactions that highlight our collection and services. All of that is part of the curation of individual visits so each person feels properly hosted.
 
Respect is realized not as a belief but as a collection of moments that accrue over time. Respect is an action, is something we constantly do. It is in feeling respected and trusted that our patrons will come to trust us.
 
These ideas all seem simple enough in theory; yet reality is always murky. Hosting is emotional labor, and by being human we are prone to weariness, distraction, annoyance, and preoccupation. It’s not uncommon for patrons to have competing needs, whether that is multiple people needing our attention simultaneously, volume and behavior that is not considerate of shared space, or not interacting with us in respectful ways. “Neutrality” is always somewhat ambiguous and mushy, and it generally leaves each person feeling less fully represented than they would prefer. And, of course, we ourselves are members of the public with identities and convictions. Achieving our aspirations takes work.
 
We find help in that by committing ourselves to integrity and learning. We stay grounded in our values and cognizant of our mission, measuring each little, momentary decision against them. We hold ourselves to standards. We help colleagues and ask for help when we need it, because none of us are alone in this work. And being human means being imperfect, so we always have room to improve. We maintain the humility to believe that we always have more to learn and that our growth never stops.
 
[Our] County Library belongs to everyone. It is a shared public resource—collection, spaces, staff, services, experiences—where many perspectives coexist. It works because people respectfully share access and take turns interacting with the library. No one fully controls the environment, though staff exist to design, curate, and host it. That work sometimes asks us to serve people unlike ourselves, it is imperfect and ongoing, and trust must continually be renewed through behavior—through thousands of ordinary interactions, we preserve a public space built on access, trust, curiosity, and shared civic life.