An interesting statement of the current role of libraries and librarians. Here’s a sample of the introduction:
The Darien Statements on the Library and Librarians
Written and endorsed by John Blyberg, Kathryn Greenhill, and Cindi TrainorThe Purpose of the Library
The purpose of the Library is to preserve the integrity of civilization.
The Library has a moral obligation to adhere to its purpose despite social, economic, environmental, or political influences. The purpose of the Library will never change.
The Library is infinite in its capacity to contain, connect and disseminate knowledge; librarians are human and ephemeral, therefore we must work together to ensure the Library’s permanence.
Individual libraries serve the mission of their parent institution or governing body, but the purpose of the Library overrides that mission when the two come into conflict.
Why we do things will not change, but how we do them will.
A clear understanding of the Library’s purpose, its role, and the role of librarians is essential to the preservation of the Library.
Read the full statement at blyberg.net. They also have a MS Word Document under a Creative Commons License. You can also find a little more about how John Blyberg, Cindi Trainor and Kathryn Greenhill put this statement together in this Librarians Matter blog post.
