Library as Monastery

I love libraries. They have always served as a kind of secular holy place for me. In my time patronizing public libraries, working in academic libraries, and now in MLIS grad school, I can’t help but wonder if I am feeling drawn to the ethical principles of librarianship because of a subconscious desire for structure similar to monastic order. A clearly articulated moral framework that both constrains and redeems my social position is a psychological suit of armor in a world where my white/male identity is justifiably associated with unexamined power. The librarians’ codes of ethics and core values of intellectual freedom, equity of access, privacy, and service offer a very monastic vibe. It is a rule‑based, community‑oriented brother/sisterhood of shared values that organize daily conduct toward humility, care, and the public good. Psychologically, do I need worry that this may be a way to submit my individual ego and inherited privilege to a set of external, principled constraints, much like monks voluntarily bind themselves? I suppose there are worse tendencies than yearning to cultivate virtue and service to others…