Professional Ethics for Librarians: A Call for Theological Reflection

For the sake of this article, I will examine some arguments that librarianship is not a profession, review some counterarguments that librarianship is indeed a profession, and then provide my own rubric and conclusions. My sevenfold rubric will consist of professional education, professional competencies, professional development, professional association, professional literature, professional autonomy, and professional ethics. The final feature will lead into a summons for theological reflection upon the ethics of librarianship, including both the values and virtues required by the vocation. The ethics of librarianship calls for a theological framework and not just a professional one.