Christian Librarianship: Essays on the Integration of Faith and Profession

by Gregory A. Smith (editor)

Much of the current library literature assumes that professional library service is necessarily neutral-detached from the librarian's philosophical or religious views. By contrast, contributors to this collection assert that librarianship is best practiced as an outworking of spiritual conviction. Accordingly, they discuss principles for integrating Christian faith and librarianship within various contexts, and reflect on professional issues from biblical and theological perspectives. This text will prove beneficial to Christians working in all types of libraries, whether religious or secular. This compilation of 16 essays is divided into two main parts, the first on theory and the second on practice. The first part includes chapters such as A Rationale for Integrating Christian Faith and Librarianship, The Master We The Call of the Christian Librarian to the Secular Workplace; and The Impact of the Christian Faith on Library Service. Chapters in the second part include Library Encounters Culture, A Christian Approach to Intellectual Freedom in Libraries and Keeping Sunday Special in the Contemporary Workplace Culture. Contributors include William Fraher Abernathy, Rod Badams, Donald G. Davis, Jr., John Allen Delivuk, Kenneth D. Gill, Graham Hedges, D. Elizabeth Irish, James R. Johnson, Roger W. Phillips, Gregory A. Smith, Stanford Terhune, John B. Trotti, John Mark Tucker and Geoff Warren.

Genres: Nonfiction

239 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2002

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gregory A. Smith has made an important contribution to the literature with this collection of essays. Establishing the concept of an integration of Christian faith and librarianship theory and practice, and pulling together in one volume some of the important articles related to this concept, seems immensely helpful to Christian librarians, whether practicing in secular organizations or in specifically Christian organizations. The variety of topics, of writers, and of perspectives adds to the richness of the collection and celebrates the diversity even within something as specific as "Christian" librarianship. Still, the book delivered a bit less than I would have desired in some ways. Many of the essays in the book are somewhat dated. This is very likely the result of (as Smith mentions in his closing essay) a relative paucity of publication in this area from which to draw. Reading now a bit over a decade after publication, these particular essays begin to feel especially dated. Perhaps of more concern, despite the celebration of diverse viewpoints expressed above, is the pervasive conflation of "Evangelical" Christianity with Christianity. The book, and the essays within it, use the term "Christian" when most often they mean "Evangelical." I think Christian librarianship would benefit greatly from expanding it's circle of interaction to include those self-identified as Christian but from outside a specifically Evangelical understanding of that faith, and even with our secular colleagues.

[Marina Klimova · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars. It would have been five stars but there was one essay that claimed other librarians were longing for the forlorn "good" library days while also claiming that being inclusive in the workplace is "postmodern" and that providing books for OPAC patrons is treating those patrons as "the only consumers" at a library. Another claim made was that representation is not important because some "whites can relate even better to non-whites" (as if it's not a cultural problem, I'm still not sure how to approach the claim in my classes that librarianship is white in nature and that being a problem. This author would say it is not a problem).

Overall, this guide to Christian Librarianship was helpful and life giving. It felt very affirming to hear my moral quandaries spelled out, dissected, and presented with solutions like the question of censorship and intellectual freedom. There was also a helpful thread through the essays on the importance of service and love in any part of work a Christian librarian does. Overall, one of the most surprising takeaways was that there is no secular truth. All truth is God's truth. In honest research and scholarship that reflects truth through community-chosen boundaries, the researcher will not come to conclusions that do not reflect the truth of God found in general revelation. A distinction was made in terms of children's collections in that children need to be nurtured in truth and set on the right path but in college moral and intellectual faculties should be stretched through the presentation of critical ideas but also equally good ideas side by side.

Another strong essay was on multiculturalism in libraries showing that ethnocentrism is a result of the fall and at Pentecost the holy spirit was able to create unity and understanding without taking away the beauty of different cultures and languages. Christian librarians should support multiculturalism but, "We must oppose power games. Jesus led by prayer and example; Moses led by humility and obedience. We must lead by doing right and using wisdom to guide us to help others, not abuse power to dominate and control others... a better way is for a minority to appeal to values shared by all. One way of fighting the power struggle is by providing information on movements that won without a power struggle by appealing to shared values" In my classes this person would be deemed selfish and seen as lulled by their privilege in not standing up and speaking up for minorities.

This book is a starting point as I explore more recent Christian Librarian scholarship and maybe attend an Association for Christian Librarians conference.