R. David Lankes > Quotes

“To be a librarian is not to be neutral, or passive, or waiting for a question. It is to be a radical positive change agent within your community.”
― R. David Lankes

“Bad libraries only build collections. Good libraries build services (and a collection is only one of many). Great libraries build communities.”
― R. David Lankes, Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today's Complex World

“True learning happens when books and friends, writing and understanding intermingle in a rich soup of participation.”
― R. David Lankes

“Every day, librarians enforce copyright policies that we may disagree with and that, in some ways, run contrary to the values of our profession. Every day, librarians must decide between a desire to preserve the privacy of our community members and offering services our communities demand. Every day, librarians must make a choice between doing what’s easy, doing what’s right, and determining what’s right in the first place. No textbook or mission statement or policy document can relieve us of the necessity to make those decisions, nor remove the complexity of those decisions. That’s why we are librarians and why librarians are professionals, not clerks. That’s why we are stewards within the communities we serve, not servants to them. That’s why we must shape the missions and the work of our organizations and communities, and not simply accept them.”
― R. David Lankes, The New Librarianship Field Guide

“Likewise, if you take away the librarians and the staff, but leave the books, the computers, and the architecture, you will have a fine sculpture of a library that will become a snapshot of the community's past. But, if you threw out the books and the building and left a dedicated group of library professionals, you could invite the public in a they would construct the future.”
― R. David Lankes, Expect More: Demanding Better Libraries For Today's Complex World

“Some may see summer programs and free lunches as ineffectual tools in comparison to tear gas and body armor in dealing with violence, but they are wrong. An engaged community with librarians dedicated to learning and making a difference—the promise of opportunity and a better tomorrow, rather than the threat of force—is a powerful deterrent to violence.”
― R. David Lankes, The New Librarianship Field Guide