The Library and Information Science worker fights an internal struggle between their identity as professional and as an active political person. The issue of neutrality within the profession is not whether a LIS professional’s politics and ideals are aligned with perceived LIS values. Instead, the problem is a lack of discussion between LIS educators, students, and professionals on what neutrality truly is, and whether it exists at all.
In the work and education of school Library Media Specialists, neutrality affects a profession whose identity is constantly in flux. Those in the Library Media Specialist field cannot decide whether they can be political or active, because they have not claimed their role in school systems, as they are both educators and librarians. And yet, there is opportunity for the discussion to begin, as the role of the LMS changes with implementation of nationwide Common Core Standards. Once considered irrelevant to education, the LMS and the library are suddenly imperative to the transformations taking place in education due to these Standards.