"Louder Please": Using Historical Research to Foster Professional Identity in LIS Students

Caught up in a changing environment, pressured to keep up with new technology and to catch up with the for-profit sector, librarians may find it difficult to reflect on their profession’s past. Preparing to enter this fast-paced world of practice, LIS students may feel they have little time to study library history. I would suggest, however, that an understanding of our past is an integral part of our professional culture. The history of our institutions and of our predecessors is our intellectual endowment, a strategic asset, essential to our shared professional identity and continued strength. Lacking historical perspective, our students may not see what is unique and important about the work of libraries and librarians. Without the context that history provides, they may fail to understand the professional nature of librarianship, its contribution to society, and the values for which it stands. In preparing future professionals, our LIS programs provide students with technical know-how, inculcate them with a commitment to service, and equip them with an ethical compass. When we are threatened by an overemphasis on one or another of these elements, historical examples can help us right the balance among civic obligation, technological expertise, and ethical practice—three central aspects of “profession.” 1 My own exploration of American librarianship from 1926 to 1956 suggests how our history can serve as an essential component of professional education and a continuing source of lessons and examples to guide future practitioners. It examines an era of social and technological change much like our own. As today, librarians struggled to define their role amidst competition from new media and information providers. This period witnessed the transformation of America from a rural to an urban and suburban nation, the economic dislocation of the Great Depression, the political upheavals of World War II and the cold war, and the growing popularity of film, radio, and television. For librarians,