Code of Ethics for Librarians and Information Professionals

Issued by: The Polish Librarians Association

Introduction

Basic moral values which define the professional mission of librarians and information
professionals involve the protection of intellectual freedom, freedom of expression,
freedom of access to knowledge, information and culture and the compliance with the
principle of ideological, political and religious neutrality. Librarians and information
professionals ought to be persons worthy of public trust, experts who mediate between
readers and information users and written and information resources those users need
to perform various tasks and attain their goals.

The code of ethics for librarians and information professionals defines basic principles
binding for all representatives of the profession and identifying their social mission and
ethical responsibility in all environments of their professional activity. The principles in
question are divided into three groups. The first one involves principles of general
relevance. Five subsequent sub-groups of the second group involve ethical standards
defining the responsibility of the profession toward the public, library and information
users, library and information resources, the professional community, employers and
employing institutions. Third group involves obligations concerning the popularization of
professional ethics and compliance with its principles.

PART ONE
I. General principles

1. Librarians and information professionals are members of the profession which is

descended from the tradition of the librarian profession, the profession which is
possessed of its own ethos, structure, associations, the system of professional
education and recruitment. Librarians and information professionals accept duties
resulting from the public mission characteristic of the librarianship and professional
information services and they strive to shape and strengthen the positive image of
their profession.
2. Librarians and information professionals' task is to recognize, satisfy and develop
informational, educational, scientific, cultural, esthetic and entertainment needs of
the users. Their particular duty is the creation of opportunities for free public
access to national and international information resources as well as the
preservation and public transmission of the cultural and scientific heritage.
3. Librarians and information professionals oppose the censorship and any forms of
limiting access to information, knowledge and culture, referring to the rationality,
common sense and the best professional practice.
4. Libraries and information centers are institutions of "public trust" whose motto is
care for "the public good" in all fields of their activity. As far as the tasks and duties
of their employing institutions and the usage of their collections and information
resources are concerned, librarians and information professionals are obliged to
offer services of the highest quality with equal diligence to all users.
5. While respecting the diversity of the users, librarians and information professionals

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 are always guided by the principle of equal opportunities and respect for human
rights, in particular the right to intellectual freedom and free access to knowledge,
information and culture. They strive to learn ethical principles valid for groups they
serve and cooperate with and try to respect them.
6. Librarians and information professionals respect users' right to privacy and
discretion.
7. While working in libraries and information centers of public funding, librarians and
information professionals strive to provide their basic information services free of
charge, in particular the access to fully valuable materials of cognitive, utilizable or
entertaining nature, within their institution, beyond it and in its digital space.
8. Librarians and information professionals respect the author rights and intellectual
property rights.
9. While caring about the high quality of their services, librarians and information
professionals continuously perfect their knowledge and skills and strive to employ
all their professional competence in their professional activity.

PART TWO
II. Librarians and information professionals toward the community

1. Librarians and information professionals contribute through their work to the

development of individuals as well as the whole community.
2. Librarians and information professionals actively disseminate in the community the
awareness of the importance of knowledge and information as well as free access
to them in order to improve the quality of life, the cultural and civilization
development.
3. As far as their professional activity is concerned, librarians and information
professionals never place the personal interest before the interest of the
community.

III. Librarians and information professionals toward the user

1. Irrespective of the character of their work, librarians and information professionals

always work to the benefit of the user, respect him and strive to learn about his
needs. Librarians and information professionals help users to access materials they
search for, regardless of their content, carrier and access method involved.
2. Librarians and information professonals protect and keep secret all information
concerning users, their interests and their personal data, using them only for the
purposes defined by the law. Librarians and information professionals ensure to the
users the freedom and privacy of using circulated/accessible resources.
3. Librarians and information professionals provide users with the best
research/working conditions through the care taken of the high quality of research
workspace, simple, understandable and logical organization of collected and
circulated resources, informational materials prepared, requests for information
answered and projects implemented. Librarians and information professionals care
about the esthetic and functional value of their institutions, appropriate workstyle
and friendly atmosphere.
4. Librarians and information professionals understand and respect the fact that not
all users are equally capable of receiving information and using the library. They
strive to equalize chances of such users, working with particular care to the benefit
of the disabled and socially disadvantaged and supporting cultural (ethnic, national,

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 religious, etc.) minorities. As the contributors to the process of children and youth
education, librarians and information professionals strive to develop their
information needs and reading culture.
5. Librarians and information professionals care about the high quality of services
they offer, striving to exhaust all possibilities of satisfying user needs. Librarians
and information professionals provide users with honest information on the full and
actual scope of library services, the content of circulated collections and
information resources, the quality of information tools employed and the
possibilities of compensating limits to the available services through the
cooperation of libraries and information centers.
6. Librarians and information professionals strive to provide users with clear,
well-known information on the rules and regulations concerning the use of libraries
and information centers, they avoid informal solutions that result in the creation of
covert privileges. Librarians and information professionals attempt to offer their
services to as many users as possible, yet they are entitled to refuse those who do
not comply with the accepted principles, violate the rules or make other users feel
uncomfortable.
7. In all their professional activities librarians and information professionals remain
impartial and avoid any tendentious evaluation.
8. Assuming the servant role toward users, librarians and information professionals
treat all critique expressed by the users with respect and openness. Librarians and
information professionals immediately and honestly answer to all complaints.

IV. Librarians and information professionals toward library and information resources

1. Librarians and information professionals respect all resources they are entrusted
with. Not limiting access to them, they strive for the rational preservation and
protection of library and information resources. Librarians and information
professionals comply with the regulations on the use of computer hardware and
software, including license agreements, and the netiquette. They care about the
compliance with the regulations on the use of resources, in particular those which
result from the operative copyright/author rights, not allowing for the production of
illegal copies or alterations of original works.
2. To the best of their knowledge, librarians and information professionals strive to
ensure the highest quality of information systems and services they use or create.
3. Librarians and information professionals adjust library and information resources of
their institution to the needs of the public and their professional community, taking
care of the appropriate standards of their content as well as continuous updates. As
far as the choice and selection of resources is concerned, librarians and information
professionals comply with the principle of impartiality, objective and competent
evaluation, informing users on the accepted rules of resource development.
4. Aware of the varying value of library and information materials, librarians and
information professionals strive to learn various methods of resource evaluation,
taking into consideration the opinion of scientific and literary critics. While selecting
and cataloging resources, they are guided by user needs and the principle of
prioritizing the materials of the highest quality.
5. While acquiring, cataloging, organizing, selecting, evaluating and circulating library
and information resources, librarians and information professionals resist all
manifestations of discrimination and remain impartial; they strive to employ such
tools for cataloging documents and organizing collections which preclude users
from becoming prejudiced against any given texts or resources.

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 6. If some library materials or information resources are excluded from the public
circulation due to their rarity, value, confidential or socially detrimental character,
librarians and information professionals inform users on the existence of such
materials in a given institution and state the rules and regulations on their use.

V. Librarians and information professionals toward their colleagues and profession

1. Librarians and information professionals work reliably, learn the best practices
employed in the librarianship and information services, strive to perfect services
offered to users. Librarians and information professionals conform to the code of
practice of the employing institution.
2. Librarians and information professionals strive to become members of the team
free of artificial hierarchy, authority and ritual but conforming to the principles of
good work organization. Librarians and information professionals are aware that
their work is a type of service which requires them to be scrupulous, punctual,
orderly, tactful, well-groomed and well-mannered. Librarians and information
professionals fully engage all their competence only in those fields of library and
information services where their knowledge and skills are adequate.
3. Librarians and information professionals are guided by the positively understood
principle of professional solidarity, caring about the positive image of their
profession.
4. Respecting and understanding their colleagues' achievements, librarians and
information professionals use exclusively substantive arguments in the discussion -
also while talking to their subordinates and superiors. Remaining in the professional
relationship does not free anyone from the conformance to the legal standards and
professional ethics.
5. Caring about the continuous development of their skills and knowledge, librarians
and information professionals strive to perfect their professional
environment/community and the quality of services offered by their employing
institutions and they support their colleagues, in particular their subordinates, in
the development of their professional skills. Librarians and information
professionals support their professional organizations and associations.
6. Librarians and information professionals in managerial positions assume a unique
responsibility for their subordinates' compliance with the code of professional
practice and ethics, personally setting a good example to their colleagues.
7. Building tools of access to library and information resources and creating
information, librarians and information professionals care about the reliability,
understandability, communicative value and precision of transmitted content as
well as their own statements.

VI. Librarians and information professionals toward the employer

1. Librarians and information profesionals are loyal employees. They care about the
good reputation of their employing institution, they strive to create and consolidate
the positive public image of their institution.
2. Librarians and information professionals strive to understand and deepen their
knowledge of the tasks and goals of their employing institution and support them
with their own activity.
3. Librarians and information professionals use the potential of their knowledge and
professional skills, striving for the development of their employing institution and
enhancement of its methodology, information resources and tools.

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 4. Librarians and information professionals have a right to expect, require and
demand honest salaries adequate to their professional qualifications and work
difficulty, although they should never make the quality of their work dependent on
their salaries.
5. Librarians and information professionals avoid becoming involved in any unethical
practices which may be suggested or recommended to them.

PART THREE
VII. Final resolutions

1. Librarians and information professionals in all their activities related to their

profession comply with the principles of professional ethics defined in this Code.
2. Librarians and information professionals strive to deepen and popularize the
awareness of ethical and legal aspects of library and information activity and
services.
3. Librarians and information professionals resist the unethical behavior of members
of their professional community.

Authors:
Sabina Cisek, Zdzisław Gębołyś, Henryk Hollender, Artur Jazdon, Barbara Sosińska-
Kalata (Chair)

Reviewers:
Marcin Drzewiecki, Bolesław Howorka, Krzysztof Migoń, Hanna Tadeusiewicz, Jacek
Wojciechowski, Jan Wołosz, Zbigniew Żmigrodzki

The original of this text was finally approved on February 2, 2005 by its Authors and the
representatives of the Executive Board of the Polish Librarians Association: Jan Wołosz
(Chair of the Board) and Elżbieta Stefańczyk (Secretary of the Board) after the inclusion
of opinions expressed during the public debate on the subject.

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