Association of Library Professionals (ALP)
Code of Ethics for Library Professionals

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
– Augustine of Hippo

Introduction

This Code of Professional Ethics is designed to inspire and guide the ethical conduct of
all those with a stake in libraries, including Library Professionals, instructors in programs
of library and information science, library school students, library board members, and
library volunteers. The Association of Library Professionals holds that the term “library
professional” encompasses all library employees.

Library Professionals recognize the dignity, value, and worth of every human being. The
Library Professional endeavors to treat all persons with respect and dignity and strives
to attain greater understanding and respect for the uniqueness and intrinsic worth of
every individual.

The Library Professional commits to support the unalienable rights of all to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. Library Professionals desire to provide all individuals the
materials and information necessary to help them achieve their fullest potential as an
independent and productive citizen of a free society.

Library Professionals acknowledge that they hold significant power and influence in the
process of creating, recording, preparing, cataloging, sharing, and disseminating
information, and in assisting users in their comprehension and wise application of newly
acquired knowledge. It is our ethical obligation to cultivate collections that are
accessible and available to all members of the communities that we serve, always
preferring the advancement of shared cultural values and local standards over our
personal opinions and beliefs—especially in regard to controversial socio-political
topics.

Library Professionals understand the importance of holding as a key philosophical value
of librarianship the innate desire of each individual to pursue truth and knowledge.

Library Professionals understand the importance of creating and maintaining spaces for
self-directed access to information, educational resources, and other materials for the
personal development and enrichment of their users. Well-managed libraries and library
services are vital to the cultivation and maintenance of a well-informed, diverse,
self-governing society.

Library Professionals recognize the pluralistic nature of all self-governing modern
societies and seek to create spaces, collections, and library environments that are
welcoming to everyone. We strive to foster healthy discourse that respects each
person’s point of view and we work toward the mutual understanding of all parties in the
development of our shared community values.

All members of the Association of Library Professionals, regardless of their job
description, commit to the following ethical responsibilities.

Article I: Core Ethical Expectations

Library Professionals should maintain the highest principles and ethical standards,
continually strive to advance their knowledge of library services and best practices,
contribute to the growth of library services, and thoughtfully consider the social,
environmental, and cultural impact of their professional activities.

Library Professionals are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and
integrity. They shall conduct themselves ethically, lawfully and honorably.

Article II Ethical Practice Expectations

Section 1: Responsibility to the Public and the Community

1. The Library Professional recognizes the value of the Library as a space
that is free from institutional and employee endorsement of political
positions, candidates for political office, or any other controversial
socio-political belief. The Library Professional seeks to maintain the
library as an institution that is socio-politically neutral, and to defend the
reputation of the library by providing resources and programs representing
diverse points of view. Special care should be taken to not give
unbalanced promotion to those resources or programs that are personally
espoused by the Library Professional, or which intentionally seek to offend
or upset the moral standards of the average member of the community in
order to achieve the Library Professional’s specific socio-political purposes.

2. The Library Professional understands the sovereign value of maintaining
the Library’s reputation as a trusted neutral institution and that if this
trust is broken, we will lose the respect afforded to all libraries. As such,
Library Professionals will seek to avoid publicly taking a side or an opinion
on contentious or controversial issues, including (but not limited to)
politics, religion, or social issues as a part of their professional and
institutional responsibilities. This is in no way intended to limit the rights
of Library Professionals to express opinions on such matters as private
citizens outside of work.

3. The Library Professional shall not in any way seek to restrain or impede
adult library users in their reasonable pursuit of knowledge, and therefore
shall not deny access to or hinder an adult library user from obtaining
materials or programs that represent diverse or controversial points of
view.

4. Library Professionals recognize the inquisitive nature of the human spirit
and therefore dedicate themselves to the awesome responsibility that the
library has to guide individuals to resources that will further them in their
quest for knowledge. Library Professionals also recognize that minor
children require more careful guidance as pertains to their cognitive,
educational, and moral development—which will of course differ from child
to child. Parents and legal caregivers have the chief responsibility of
guiding their children through library materials of ever-greater difficulty,
complexity, and maturity as their children grow up, but the library also has
an obligation to facilitate this process by providing tools, such as labeling
or organizing materials according to reading and appropriate
developmental level, so as to enable children and their parents or legal
caregivers to readily distinguish between these levels in confidence and to
make their decisions accordingly.

5. Library Professionals have the additional obligation to exercise reasonable
discretion in purchasing decisions as to the developmentally-appropriate
nature of the content intended for those reading levels. In collections for
minors, items that clearly depict adult themes or offend the community’s
standards of decency and/or may be considered obscene based upon local,
state, federal, or other legal definitions, should be avoided. In addition,
where children’s collections include materials addressing complex or
controversial topics, Library Professionals ensure that young readers have
access to materials representing multiple perspectives.

6. In the case of school libraries, Library Professionals act in loco parentis
and as such their collections should be developed with due consideration
for the age-appropriateness of content, curricular needs, and the reading
levels of students.

7. The Library Professional shall protect the confidentiality and privacy of
present and former library users, recognizing that only in rare cases in
which law enforcement officials are exercising their legal obligations
(under the authorization of a special governmental directive such as a
court order) to intervene in threats to public safety or to investigate
crimes already committed.

8. The Library Professional shall work to make facilities, collections,
programs, and technologies fully accessible for all users, according to legal
requirements.

9. Library Professionals shall support intellectual freedom and resist attempts
at censorship and restricting access to information on the part of any
government, group, or individual. Where materials concerning
controversial topics are selected every attempt should be made to provide
balance between opposing viewpoints and worldviews. Notwithstanding,
each community is unique and decisions regarding the makeup and
location of items in the collections should be made to best serve the needs
of each individual community; furthermore, requests for reconsideration
submitted by members of the community should be dealt with in good
faith and in a timely and non-adversarial fashion.

10. While managing requests for the use of library owned property and
venue(s) by third parties, Library Professionals shall make every attempt
to not favor certain types of requests while denying others, treating all
community stakeholders fairly.

Section 2: Responsibility to the Profession

Library Professionals shall:

1. strive to uphold the integrity and dignity of the profession.

2. seek to maintain the reputation and service of the library as a neutral
institution open to all regardless of political views, and not compromise
the integrity of the profession by promoting the adoption of any
socio-political projects or advocacy on the part of the Library and/or
members of the public.

3. seek to maintain an honorable and cooperative association with fellow
Library Professionals, colleagues, board members, volunteers, and
governing authorities, dealing with these and other entities in good faith
so as not to call their intentions or motives into question or to falsely
damage the reputation of any such colleagues.

4. not promote private or personal interests or socio-political agendas at the
expense of the integrity, reputation, and dignity of the profession.

5. maintain their competence and knowledge of current theories, best
practices and law, by participating in continuing education courses,
personal study, and attending professional meetings and seminars.

6. carry out discussions of controversial issues, laws, programs, or services,
whether public or private, in a professional and in a transparent fashion,
based on factual analysis, and with respectful conduct towards all involved.

7. possess and respect the freedom of conscience, such that freedom to not
participate in workplace training, events, or pledges, outside of assigned
duties which contradict sincerely-held beliefs, is maintained.

8. where disagreements with colleagues arise, Library Professionals strive to
understand these disagreements to be with ideas, ideologies, values, or
principles, and not as being in opposition to—or expressed as hostility
towards—those colleagues as individuals; and therefore will avoid
participating in campaigns to “cancel” colleagues, but instead defend their
rights to freedom of thought and speech.

Section 3: Responsibility to the Employing Organization

1. Library Professionals shall serve their employing organizations in a
competent and professional manner.

2. Library Professionals shall follow and seek compliance with the spirit and
letter of the law governing their library.

3. Library professionals shall support those decisions that are both ethical
and legal, made by the Library, Library Board, or other governing
authority, regardless of personal interests.

4. Should Library Professionals become aware of conduct on the part of the
library at which they are employed that is either illegal or clearly
unethical, they should make every attempt to have the matter addressed
through existing policy and procedure. Should official channels fail to
adequately resolve the illegal or unethical practice or policy, Library
Professionals in such a position should use their own discretion in their
personal course of action.

Section 4: Responsibility to the Association

1. Library Professionals shall act in accordance with this Code of Ethics
towards other members.

2. Library Professionals, in representing the Association, will deal in a
professional, ethical, and respectful fashion towards members of other
library associations.

3. Library Professionals will not use the Association to advance their own
financial interests.

4. Library Professionals shall not seek to utilize the Association to advance
their own partisan political agendas, or to publicly align it with partisan
political organizations or candidates.

Adopted April 19, 2024 by the ALP Senate