Librarianship for the faithful, revisited.
Christian Librarianship: Essays on the Integration of Faith and Profession. Gregory A. Smith (edited by), Donald G. Davis (Foreword by). ISBN: 0786413298, ISBN-13: 9780786413294 ,Paperback, 239pp, McFarland & Company.
Some interesting quotes:
"Thus Christian librarianship worthy of the name is less a matter of managing things and less a matter of managing things and more a matter of interacting with people." (p. 73)
"Christians have been villians and heroes as preservers of culture. Part of the destruction of the great library at Alexandria has been laid to the charge of Christians. On the other hand, the Renaissance was able to build on the storehouses of culture preserved by Christian institutions." (p. 88)
My 2 cents:
Of the 16 essays, I see some insights meant for the global audience in the essay by John Allen Delivuk, "Multiculturalism and Libraries: A Biblical Perspective," an extract is as follows:
Implications for Christian librarians
First, we reject the view that moral standards create a cultural group.
{Second ...}
Third, Christian librarians need to influence the selection of America's cultural canon.
Fourth, Christians must reject the view that race, ethnic background, or sexual orientation is more important in job selection than one's accomplishments.
{Fifth, ...}
Sixth, Christians should also remember their multicultural religious heritage.
Finally, Christians should beware of the power struggle philosophy of some multiculturalists, and beware of abusing the political and media power we are increasingly gaining.
Synopsis:"The text's intended aims are to help Christians in the library profession integrate their faith into their work, to provide a foundation for further dialogue of library issues from a Christian perspective, and provide students and scholars of library science with an understanding of Christian librarians and their unique concerns."
What others say:VOYA - Sherrie Williams
This professional resource offers direction to Christian librarians in all types of library settings on integrating their beliefs into the workplace... The strong evangelical Christian flavor of this book might limit its audience. It could be valuable in the education of librarians for Christian institutions, but it lacks wide professional appeal. [source:
bn.com] See also Table of Contents at bn.com
As a reader of this book, and a professional librarian, I wish the book had answers to my questions:
a) where on the earth are such librarians trained and who certifies them?
b) With technical education and information sharing skills (neutral as they are for every perspective), how do librarians perform as evangelists or ministers
c) While there is some literature on faith-based librarianship, this book makes no mention whatsoever (not even in its bibliography), for a general librarian, about
Jewish,
Islamic and other genres of librarianship.
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