Librarians getting sued?

Librarians are a dying breed right now due to budget cuts, especially in K-12 education. Personally, I think they are severely undervalued and that they can offer students so much if there is access to them.

Anyway, have you noticed the recent stories about librarians being sued for libel? The latest being “librarians and lawyers” (http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/15/another-publisher-accuses-librarian-libel), “With the proliferation of scholarly journals – particularly open-access Internet journals that charge author fees – some librarians consider themselves on the front lines of the fight to preserve quality publishing”. “Some publishers have taken up their own arms – including threats of lawsuits – in defense, raising questions about academic freedom and librarians in the Internet age”.

United States tends to be a very litigious society as it is; but suing librarians? I wonder if there might be a better approach for those who feel slighted, at least initially?

Librarians help students, we need to preserve them and allow them to do their jobs.

 

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam