The Theory of Human Caring and Service Friendly Librarians Dr. Susan E. Higgins University of Southern Mississippi School of Library and Information Science Hattiesburg, MS. USA

Premise By accepting human caring as a foundational concept of LIS, librarians will be more conscious practitioners. They will contribute to the professionalism of the field.

Information in this Century This foundational concept is the best way to influence the future of information in the 21 st century.

The Premise is Based on Responsibility Records of human achievement assist in greater understandings among people everywhere. Librarians themselves are peacekeepers.

The Premise is Based on The Science of Human Caring A caring disposition is the greatest asset a librarian can bring to the profession. The librarian develops a caring disposition along with the knowledge of resources

The Premise is Based on Hospitality The library is a channel of hospitality, idealism and reverence for culture. These cannot be seen with the naked eye – only experienced.

The Premise is based on the user a multidimensional person Users are not just consumers of information, they are contributors themselves.

Why do we serve? Librarians are drawn to the profession by their desire to interact or serve those who interact in libraries in a humanistic fashion.

How Can I Serve? The librarians role is to minimize the inquirers intellectual and emotional effort in seeking information. Dr. Richard Crouch

Caring Science Questions How can I intervene? What questions can be asked? How can I enter the users informing processes? How can I deliver what will be informing to the unique individual asking the question?

The Information Caregiver Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring for nurses is congruent with the traditional role of librarians, predominately women. Caring science includes multiple and inclusive approaches to inquiry – not just the statistical evidence of hard science.

Carl Rogers – A psychologist best known for his motivation theory, Self-actualization. Rogers wrote that this innate tendency for growth motivates all human behavior The concept is congruent with that of lifelong learning.

Positive Self Regard Rogers believed that positive self regard is modeled by holding others in positive self regard. Librarians can begin to minimize an inquirers intellectual and emotional effort in seeking information by holding them in a positive light.

Adele Fasick Librarians welcome and support people in their pursuit of knowledge.

Kay Vandergrift Kay Vandergrift sees caring for library users as an ethical stance for librarianship. Ways of knowing and ways of being are interrelated.

Service to children Historically, public library service to children was to be intelligent and sympathetic This was considered a philosophical stance It was also ethical that only those who liked children actually served them.

The Service Mentality By promoting library service as a caring science, theory and practice are brought together in lifelong learning.

Servant-leadership and librarianship This management style advocates the ability to listen, be compassionate, encourage growth in people and focus on the community. (Heaphey, James) Servant-leadership is the antithesis of quantitative, systems based approaches to management.

Managing the Manager How we manage ourselves and how we are managed by library management itself is also a research context.

Effective Practice Qualitative approaches to research and qualitative understandings of context are linked to more effective practice.

What will I be tomorrow? Service friendly librarians will be the most powerful designers of the information and research landscape of tomorrow. A qualitative research mileau can empower librarians.

References Boeree, C. George. Carl Rogers Accessed 5/6/2007 Crouch, Richard Keith. Interpersonal Communication in the Reference Interview. Doctoral Dissertation. University of Toronto (Canada). DAI 42/10 A., p. 4189, 1981.

References Fasick, Adele. Guildelines for Childrens Services, Section of Childrens Libraries. Supplement to Guidelines for Public Libraries (1986). IFLA Professional Report No. 25 IFLA, Heaphey, James. Servant-leadership in public libraries. Indiana Libraries 25(3),

References Vandergrift, Kay. Journey or Destination: Female Voices in Youth Literature. Htt:// S.pdf Accessed 12/6/2007 Watson, Jean. Dr. Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring. University of Colorado Health Science Center. Accessed 26/9/2007.