Monday, June 30, 2008

Ex Libris publishes CCL History

ELA LogoThe Ex Libris Association, ELA --founded in 1986 -- at the University of Toronto published an article about CCL in its newsletter, ELAN, Spring 2008.

An excerpt follows:


The Committee of Concerned Librarians, CCL – a brief history


"Librarians are the fierce defenders of the principles of intellectual freedom and access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity. We are the champions of equitable service policies and users’ rights to privacy and confidentiality. Yet we have failed to defend the value of our own profession both internally and externally. The fervor librarians exhibit for libraries and their collections, whether in print or electronic formats, is noticeably weak if not absent when it comes to advocating for ourselves. A reason for this? One might argue that libraries are comprised of all classes of employees, from librarians to clerical assistants to paraprofessionals and it cannot be understated that each plays an integral but differing role in the success of any library but relinquishing our role, our influence, our value to the library, as librarians is irresponsible."