Hippocratic Oath for Librarians

Tis the season for awards and best of lists. I was thrilled to actively nominate books for the Cyblis for the first time. Several Mock Newbery blogs and groups are actively debating and choosing their favorite books. My friend Benji Martin and I even took a stab at it over at Newbery Pie, with our own predictions.

My husband is a nurse and I was thinking recently about the Hippocratic oath for doctors in comparison to our ethical standards. As librarians, our code of ethics doesn't really roll off the tongue the say way. Respect for authors and readers is definitely in there, as well as not self-inflating our own personal opinions, all things we need to keep in mind as we come to award/best of season. Ultimately, we need to remember that these are authors and illustrators who have shared something precious with us - their talent. I feel so blessed that I am the person who gets to share that talent with their intended audience - children.  Now something exciting; look who I got to meet last week!!!

Post from Facebook:

"It was completely worth the drive in the rain. I almost missed meeting Katherine Applegate because the event was at 5 at a school even though the website said 7, and I went to the bookstore. I even acted like a normal person, although I cried when I got to the car. I hope authors/illustrators know how much of an impact they have. I can't say awards mean nothing, but Ivan changed my life long before it got its shiny gold sticker. And while we as teachers/librarians share those awards and try to get our kids excited about them, a child's love for a book matters more. Kidlit authors: thank you for your work - you helped to set me on the path of my life when I was a child. If you are an author or illustrator my age or younger: you have helped to keep me on that path at times when I didn't think I could (or didn't want to) do this job anymore. You are my rock stars and my heroes. I wish I could give you all an award."