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Lifelong Learning is enshrined in the professional practice of librarians through the American Library Association's "Core Values of Librarianship" (2004). As a Core Value, the term is extremely vague. What do we mean by lifelong learning, and why does the term have such a powerful hold on the imaginations of educators? This paper works to understand the term by looking at one of the earliest conflicts in American educational history and philosophy: the choice between student-centered schools and employment-centered schools. During the first decades of the twentieth century, America was struggling to define its national core values. Educational theory was seen as a key way to articulate and pass on these values. One pedagogical approach involved developing schools to educate individuals to become thinking and informed citizens; another administrative approach involved creating schools as vocational institutions to educate individuals to become skilled employees. After a brief debate, employment-centered schools emerged as the clear winner. Since that time American schools have been viewed almost exclusively through a vocational lens. The implications of this decision for libraries, schools, and learning are explored.
Lifelong Learning is enshrined in the professional consciousness of librarians through the American Librar y Association's (ALA) "Core Values of Librarianship" (2004). According to this statement, the "ALA promotes the creation, maintenance, and enhancement of a learning society, encouraging its members to work with educators, government officials, and organizations in coalitions to initiate and support comprehensive efforts to ensure that school, public, academic, and special libraries in ever y community cooperate to provide lifelong learning ser vices to all" (n.p.). Recently, the place of Lifelong Learning as a Core Value has been questioned by Rick Anderson (2013), who asks whether it can be a Core Value of librarianship as long as libraries "spend scarce resources on recreational resources that provide little if any educational value" (n.p.). In response Victoria Collie (2013) defends Lifelong Learning as a Core Value, noting that "the point is for patrons to learn how to find information, enjoy the process, and seek to know more" (n.p.). This debate hinges on what we mean by the terms core value and lifelong learning. Should Core Values fundamentally guide all decisions made by libraries, or are they more like guidelines or talking...