Espousing "social justice" is unprofessional

.... librarians ... are all about feeding children a steady diet of politically correct pablum under the "social justice" rubric.

The phrase social justice is a euphemism in liberalism's public-policy vernacular for Big Government. What social justice is really about is advocacy for higher taxes, unsecured borders, a single-payer healthcare system, more government regulation, intolerance of dissenters like the Tea Party and evangelical Christians, and protecting abortion factories at all costs. Morrongiello, Gabriella Guess what the librarian is teaching your kids on 'social justice', Washington Examiner, July 27, 2013

Oh, Gabriella, how did you uncover we librarians' secret plot? You are just too clever for us. Foiled again!

The editorial/article/screed talks about a poster session at ALA that promotes  "a kid-friendly definition of social justice and its key features, some of which include: oppose discrimination on account of gender, sexuality, socio-economic and immigration status; support worker's rights, environmental issues and health rights."

Here's the irony: the article is right - librarians should not be espousing obviously political beliefs. It's unprofessional. According to ALA's Code of Ethics:

VII. We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.

Granted, many if not most librarians that I know are on the left political specturm. And personally, that's just fine and dandy. I lean that direction myself.

It's when out personal beliefs and values begin to impact our programs, our services, and the resources we provide that we begin to violate our own set of professional practices. 

Professional librarians must exhibit a fierce impartiality on any area of values. If librarians don't provide access to diverse information sources and opinions and allow individuals to decide issues for themselves, we are no better than Fox News, the Huffington Post, or Gabriella.

The secret about secrets

The secret of a happy marriage remains a secret.
                                                               Henny Youngman

Just the word "secret" has tremendous power. I was reminded of that last week when helping my 7-year-old grandson learn to ride a bike.

I got Miles's attention by telling him "Grandpa's Secret to Riding a Bike." The big secret was that one does not start pedaling until moving and balanced. Miles also learned "Grandpa's Secret to Swimming All the Way Across the Swimming Pool Underwater on Only One Breath" - taking three deep breaths and pushing off hard from the side. And "Grandpa's Secret to Lighting a Fire with Only One Match." - balled up newspaper and dry kindling.

None of "Grandpa's Secrets" are particularly revolutionary - or even that helpful. So why do we tend to pay attention to information when it supposedly a "secret?" Judging by the number of books on Amazon with "secret" in their titles (193,000+), movies (15,600+), songs (10, 200+) and innumerable blog posts, I am not the first person to figure out that the very word "secret" has the power to get one's attention. 

Knowing a secret, of course, suggests having knowledge that is exclusionary or proprietary. Some of us know it, some of us don't. With the implication of course, that those with this knowledge have some advantage. Secrets give us power, and heaven knows, everyone would like to be more powerful.

I am always skeptical of anything that has "secret" in its name including secrets of success, secret sauce, and Victoria's Secret (What is her secret anyway?) Such secrets are simply common understandings or information dressed up a little bit. But like adding a numbered list to make titles catchier, I am not above sharing a "secret" or two myself.

Hey, it worked with Miles!

Image source

BFTP: Career evolution

A weekend Blue Skunk "feature" will be a revision of an old post. I'm calling this BFTP: Blast from the Past. Original post June 14, 2008.

Consulting: If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem. despair.com

When I was young I liked frying eggs.
I went to school and got a degree in frying eggs.
I got a job frying eggs.
I was the best at frying eggs for the company so they had me supervise others frying eggs.
I was the best at supervising those who fried eggs so they had me manage the supervisors.
I gave a conference presentation on how to fry eggs good.
I wrote a book about how to fry eggs good.
I have a blog about how to fry eggs good.
I became an egg frying consultant.

I don't remember how to fry eggs anymore.

Does anybody remember The Peter Principle - that we all rise in our organizations until we become incompetent and then remain in that position?

You don't much hear it mentioned much anymore. Is it because we are embarrassed?

Has the world become so complex and so fast changing that none of us feel competent? That none of us can keep up?