GLC Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A library director discovers that a staff member has been sharing patron checkout records with a local law enforcement officer without a court order. What is the most appropriate first step?
- Immediately terminate the staff member
- Notify the library board and consult legal counsel (Correct answer)
- Ignore it if the officer claims an ongoing investigation
- Report the patron to law enforcement yourself
Correct answer: Notify the library board and consult legal counsel
The director should notify the library board and consult legal counsel to address the potential privacy violation in accordance with Georgia law and ALA policy.
Question 2: Under the ALA Code of Ethics, how should a librarian handle a personal belief that conflicts with providing access to legal but controversial materials?
- Refuse to assist patrons with those materials
- Provide equitable access regardless of personal views (Correct answer)
- Relocate those materials to a restricted section
- Post personal disclaimers near those materials
Correct answer: Provide equitable access regardless of personal views
The ALA Code of Ethics requires librarians to provide equitable access to all legal materials, setting aside personal beliefs.
Question 3: A librarian is offered a gift card by a vendor after selecting their database product. What is the ethically correct response?
- Accept it as a token of appreciation
- Decline and report the offer to a supervisor (Correct answer)
- Accept it anonymously to avoid conflict
- Donate it to the library's fund
Correct answer: Decline and report the offer to a supervisor
Accepting gifts from vendors can create conflicts of interest; the ethical response is to decline and report the offer.
Question 4: A patron requests that the library delete their borrowing history. Under Georgia library confidentiality principles, what should the librarian do?
- Deny the request since records are institutional property
- Honor the request in accordance with the library's privacy policy (Correct answer)
- Ask the patron to submit a written legal petition
- Transfer the decision to the library director only
Correct answer: Honor the request in accordance with the library's privacy policy
Libraries should honor patron requests to purge borrowing history as part of upholding patron privacy rights.
Question 5: When a colleague engages in professional misconduct, a librarian's ethical obligation under the ALA Code of Ethics is to:
- Cover for the colleague to maintain staff unity
- Report the conduct through appropriate channels (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague publicly at a staff meeting
- Do nothing unless personally affected
Correct answer: Report the conduct through appropriate channels
The ALA Code of Ethics obligates librarians to address misconduct through appropriate reporting channels to uphold professional standards.
Question 6: A school librarian in Georgia is asked by a teacher to block access to websites related to a topic the teacher finds objectionable, even though the sites are educationally relevant. The librarian should:
- Block the sites to maintain harmony with faculty
- Consult the district's collection development and internet use policy (Correct answer)
- Allow the teacher to block the sites using admin tools
- Refer all website access requests to the principal
Correct answer: Consult the district's collection development and internet use policy
The librarian should consult established policy rather than unilaterally restricting access based on a teacher's personal objections.
Question 7: Which principle best describes the librarian's duty when a minor requests access to materials that are legal but intended for adults?
- Deny access to all adult materials to any patron under 18
- Balance intellectual freedom with parental rights and library policy (Correct answer)
- Require written parental consent for all library materials
- Allow full access with no restrictions since the materials are legal
Correct answer: Balance intellectual freedom with parental rights and library policy
Librarians must balance intellectual freedom, parental rights, and institutional policy when serving minors seeking adult materials.
GLC Ethics & Professional Responsibilities 2
A library director discovers that a staff member has been sharing patron checkout records with a local law enforcement officer without a court order.
What is the most appropriate first step?