Core Values of the New Jersey Library Association

Access: we strive to provide equal access to a variety of materials in all formats and make information both findable and accessible to all people whenever it is needed.

Civic engagement: we seek to deepen connections to service areas and improve the quality of life in our communities by actively listening to community concerns, partnering with fellow community organizations to achieve shared goals, and spending time beyond library walls.

Education and lifelong learning: we recognize all libraries as hubs for people of all ages to connect with, create, and share knowledge.

Equity, diversity and inclusion: we welcome, engage, and reflect all people in our communities through programming, collections, services, and staffing.

Healthy workplaces: we embrace the need for libraries as institutions to care for and support library workers, reflecting librarianship as a caring profession.

Integrity and trustworthiness: we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and operate our institutions in a transparent and open manner.

Intellectual freedom: we advocate for the First Amendment rights of all library users to freely, equitably, and confidentially read, research, question, speak, and access information.

Preservation and stewardship: we support the maintenance of local history and culture, and support libraries as fiscally sound, taxpayer-funded
organizations working in the public interest.

Privacy and confidentiality: we protect the right to open inquiry without having an interest examined or scrutinized, and we keep personally identifiable information private on behalf of all users.

Public good: we empower communities by providing information, services, and support to all community members in an open, equal, and equitable manner.

Social responsibility: we prioritize programming, collection development, services, information, knowledge, and staffing that solves problems and builds community.

Sustainability: we embody practices that are environmentally sound, economically feasible, and socially equitable.

Respectfully submitted to the NJLA Executive Board, February 2019
Updated June 2023

2019 PDF Version: https://njla.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/NJLA%27s%20Core%20Values.pdf