Service through Education: a Core Competency

Katharine Sharp Review [ISSN 1083-5261] No. 6, Winter 1998 [http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/review/6/estrin_inst.pdf] SR The promise of libraries to educate the citizenry has long been a purpose of the library as an institution. Instruction occurs in public, academic, and special libraries and is manifested in many ways beyond the traditional classroom environment. This article suggests that instruction is a professional competency intrinsically linked to enhancing service quality and organizational effectiveness. While the merits of library instruction as an effective tool have long been debated in the literature, the emphasis has been on technical needs rather than service issues. A current concern for the acquisition of critical thinking and other information literacy skills is changing the nature of such a debate. Because the value of instruction is reemerging as both a conceptual and practical skill for library professionals, it is increasingly necessary to provide adequate training and education to librarians. The most suitable place for such an activity is during the course of formal library science education.