Towards a Biblical Foundation for a Philosophy of Librarianship

Within the discipline of library science, there are two themes that speak to both the philosophy of librarianship and that intersect with biblical teaching. These are “documentality” and “information literacy.” Both themes within the librarianship context emerge from and speak to the metanarratives of contemporary culture, particularly as they pertain to higher education. Documentality embraces the social values and practices underpinning the reification and commodification of human communication, from the mind of the author to publication, to distribution, to access. Information literacy, in turn, engages the social values and practices of the individual reader engaging with these authored products. Though this framing of the discussion with this terminology may be contemporary, I suggest that the themes proper are ageless and have been addressed in Scriptures. Further, I suggest that the contribution on these themes from the Scriptures shapes a Biblically informed philosophy of librarianship.