Burley Public Library Resource Selection Policy 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I. MISSION STATEMENT …………………………………………………….……………..……….…….2
II. THE COMMUNITY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
III. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
IV. RESPONSIBILITY……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
V. THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF ACCESS …………………..…..………….. 3
VI. RESOURCE SELECTION: GENERAL………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
VII. RESOURCES FOR ADULTS ………………………………………………………………..…………..5
VIII. RESOURCES FOR TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS…………………….……………………………..5
IX. RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN ……………………………………………………………….…….….6
X. ONLINE RESOURCES……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..6
XI. GIFTS………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..6
XII. PROGRAMS, EXHIBITS, AND DISPLAYS …………………………………………………….….….7
XIII. REPLACEMENTS …………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
XIV. WITHDRAWAL OF RESOURCES ………………………………………………………………..…. 7
APPENDIX A: STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT LIBRARY RESOURCES……………………………. 8
APPENDIX A (FORM): STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT LIBRARY RESOURCES……………………… . .9
APPENDIX B: COMMUNITY ROOM USE…………………………………………………………………… 10
APPENDIX D: THE FREEDOM TO READ ……………………………………………………………….……12
APPENDIXF: LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS……………………………………………………………………………………………16
APPENDIX F (SPANISH TRANSLATION): DECLARACION DE LOS DERECHOS DE LAS
BIBLIOTECAS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. …………….. 17
APPENDIX F1: ACCESS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS TO NONPRINT MATERIALS… ….18
APPENDIX F2: ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC INFORMATION, SERVICES, AND NETWORKS ….…… .. 20
APPENDIX F3: ACCESS TO LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES REGARDLESS OF SEX, GENDER
IDENTITY, GENDER EXPRESSION, OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION …………………………..……..… . 24
APPENDIX F4: CHALLENGED MATERIALS……………………………………………………………………………………. 26
APPENDIX F5: DIVERSITY IN COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………….. …. 27
APPENDIX F6: ECONOMIC BARRIERS TO INFORMATION ACCESS………………………..…….…… 29
APPENDIX F7: EVALUATING LIBRARY COLLECTIONS ……………………………………………… 32
APPENDIX F8: EXHIBIT SPACES AND BULLETIN BOARDS …………………………………………… 33
APPENDIX F9: EXPURGATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS……………………………………………………………. 35
PPENDIX FI0: FREE ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS…………………………………….……… 36
APPENDIX F11: LABELS AND RATING SYSTEMS………………………………….……………….…… 38
APPENDIX F12: LIBRARY-INITIATED PROGRAMS AS A RESOURCE………………………………………….. .. 40
APPENDIX F13: PRIVACY ………………………………………………………………………………… 42
APPENDIX F14: RESTRICTED ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS………………………………………………. .46
APPENDIX F15: THE UNIVERSAL RIGHTTO FREE EXPRESSION ………………………………… … 48
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INTRODUCTION
This Resource Selection Policy of the Burley Public Library was approved by the Library
Board of Directors on June 28, 2016. Any person who wishes to make comments on this policy
should submit them in writing to the Library Administration.
Selection decisions are made by the staff based on policies formally adopted by the Burley
Public Library Board of Directors. The context and philosophical basis for these selection
policies is based in part on statements of ethical positions adopted by the American Library
Association in support of intellectual freedom and the freedom to read. Relevant statements
from ALA are appended to this document to provide context for the locally adopted Resource
Selection Policy.
Library staff are encouraged to address concerns expressed by patrons by providing the
Resource Selection Policy in its entirety. This includes the form “Statement of Concern About
Library Resources” in Appendix A to aid patrons in expressing their concerns over library
resources when writing to the Burley Public Library.
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I. VISION STATEMENT
The Burley Public library staff, board, and community envision a future where the library
serves as a premier information resource that supports, enhances, and inspires learning and
personal enrichment.
II. MISSION STATEMENT
The community served by the Burley Public Library can expect to:
1) Access recorded knowledge and information in all formats
2) Find the library building, services, and programs as a central and essential presence
3) Gain advancement in literacy and reading and preservation of local history
4) Encounter personal enrichment and learning experiences
for success in jobs, individual interests, social connections and education.
II. THE COMMUNITY
The Library is supported by, and recognizes as its primary clientele, the residents of Burley,
Idaho. The residents of Burley represent a diversity of age, background, religion, ethnicity,
culture, education, socioeconomic level, and lifestyle.
In order to most effectively meet the needs and interests of its patrons, the library gathers
and analyzes information about the community. The results of this research provide the
library with information about the diverse groups within the Burley Community so that their
needs and interests may be considered when selecting resources. In addition, knowledge of
other readily available sources of information within the community enables the
Library to most effectively use its limited resources by avoiding unnecessary duplication.
A consortial borrowing arrangement with DeMary Memorial Library in Rupert Idaho and the
Jerome Public library lets us also consider the needs of their residents using the Burley Public
library.
The Burley Public library welcomes suggestions from the public regarding its
collections. Purchase suggestions can be made by contacting the library.
Ill. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
In support of the Library’s mission, resources are selected in a range of formats and
organized for browsing, open access, on-site reference use, and circulation. The staff
provides reference and reader’s advisory services, programs, exhibits, displays, and
publications to assist patrons in locating and using information.
Library resources are selected to:
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Ensure the right of all library patrons to evaluate for themselves a broad range of ideas and
concepts in appropriate formats and reading, viewing, and listening levels.
Provide the information patrons need to facilitate participation in the democratic process.
Enhance personal and professional lives, develop personal interest, and support lifelong
learning.
Encourage reading, listening, and viewing as leisure activities.
IV. RESPONSIBILITY
Direct selection of library materials for the system is delegated to staff members qualified for
this duty. Employees are responsible for the resources in their departmental collections.
The final responsibility for all selected resources rests with the library Director who operates
within the framework of policies adopted by the Burley Public Library Board of Directors.
V. THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF ACCESS
Freedom of communication is vital to preserving an open society. Accordingly, this
Library Resource Selection Policy mandates the choosing of library resources based on the
values of interest, information, and enlightenment for all the people of the community – no
resource shall be excluded because of the race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, age, or
the social, political, or religious views of the authors. The Library will consider patron concerns
or objections to resources in its collections only when submitted in writing and on the approved
form (SEE Appendix A, Statement of Concern about Library Resources).
However, the City Library declares as a matter of policy that no challenged resource which
conforms to this Resource Selection Policy shall be removed from the Library except by order
of a court of competent jurisdiction. To ensure the right of the citizens of Burley to have access
to a broad range of ideas and concepts, the Burley Public Library’s Board of Directors endorses
the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, The Freedom to Read Statement,
and Freedom to View Statement except where superseded by specific library policies and
procedures (SEE Appendix D, The Freedom to Read Statement and Appendix F, Library Bil1
of Rights).
The following statements and their interpretations are incorporated as a part of this policy
and are extended for the purpose of this policy to include all resources in any format.
Copies of these interpretations are included in Appendix F:
• Library Bill of Rights and Its Interpretations
• Access for Children and Young Adults to Non-print Materials
• Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks
• Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, or Sexual
Orientation
• Challenged Materials
• Diversity in Collection Development
• Economic Barriers to Information Access
• Evaluating Library Collections
• Exhibit Spaces and Bulletin Boards
• Expurgation of Library Materials
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• Free Access to Libraries for Minors
• Labels and Rating Systems
• Library-Initiated Programs as a Resource
• Privacy
• Restricted Access to Library Materials
• The Universal Right to Free Expression
VI. RESOURCE SELECTION: GENERAL CRITERIA
The Burley Public Library is responsible for providing materials to residents and taxpayers of
all ages, backgrounds, and opinions. The library collection taken as a whole will be an unbiased
and diverse source of information, representing as many viewpoints as possible. Subjects will
be covered in sufficient depth and breadth to meet anticipated and expressed individual and
community needs. No resource shall be excluded because of the race, nationality, gender,
sexual orientation, age, or the social, political, or religious views of the authors. In support
of these principles, the Burley Public Library offers a collection of materials that is diverse,
inclusive, and protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Selection of library resources is a complex process which takes into consideration a number of
factors. These factors include the role of the library in the community and availability of major
information resources within the community or through information networks. Exceptions to
the criteria may be made in order to represent significant points of view otherwise
unrepresented in the collection.
The following criteria provide the general framework within which selection takes place:
Resources are selected to meet the informational, educational, and recreational needs of
patrons.
 Resources that are selected receive acceptable reviews in recognized review media or
are favorably reviewed by a qualified library staff member.
 When reviews and/or review copies of resources are unavailable, the decision to acquire
resources is based upon other information such as interviews, author interest and
reputation, media coverage, patron demand or expectations, and the judgment of a
qualified staff member. Any donated materials are treated as gifts.
 Resources are selected to contribute to the balance and variety of the library collection
as a whole in order to provide the greatest number of options to library patrons.
 Resources are evaluated with regard to artistic worth, originality of work, suitability of
format, comprehension by the intended age level, and contribution to the total
collection.
 Nonfiction resources are evaluated with regard to authority, authenticity, accuracy and
timeliness, logical and clear presentation of ideas, and local or historical importance.
 Resources are selected to meet the needs and interests of the general public. The Burley
Public library does not seek to duplicate research or special collections which are
readily available to the public in fields such as law (Supreme Court Law Library),
genealogy (LDS Family History Library), government documents (University of Idaho),
nor does it attempt to meet the textbook needs of students.
 Resources are selected in various formats to meet the needs of library patrons.
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 Electronic resources, audiovisual materials, magazines, newspapers, alternative press
materials, graphic novels, pamphlets, maps, and art prints are examples of resources
which present information in ways other than the traditional book format.
 Resources are selected in various languages to meet the needs and interests of an
increasingly diverse population and to provide materials that meet the needs of those
who are studying languages.
 Resources are selected within the constraints imposed by availability, space, budget, and
format limitations. Resources which meet the selection criteria may be considered for
acquisition by all appropriate departments of the Library, although the Library is not
obligated to acquire all such items.
VII. RESOURCES FOR ADULTS
A. Nonfiction Resources
The Burley Public Library acquires nonfiction resources in compliance with the general criteria
of this policy. The Library also recognizes its responsibility to make available informational
and educational resources of interest and importance to the community in reading, listening,
and viewing levels appropriate for adults. A resource representing a single view of an issue will
be considered for inclusion in the collection if it contributes to an understanding of the issue as
a whole.
B. Fiction Resources
The Burley Public Library acquires fiction resources in compliance with the general criteria of
this policy. When reviews are unavailable for titles, the reputations of authors, series,
publishers, performers, and directors are considered. Much contemporary fictional work deals
graphically with all aspects of life. Resources which contain potentially controversial passages
or scenes are examined as a whole because the significance of an entire work often transcends
isolated words, phrases, incidents, or scenes.
VIII. RESOURCES FOR TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS
A. General Principles
Resources selected for teens and young adults must meet the same selection criteria as all other
library resources. Teen and young adult resources are selected to meet the informational,
educational, cultural, and recreational needs of older children, generally defined as 12- to 18-
year-olds. In selecting resources for teens and young adults, consideration is given to
information, incidents, and characterizations that reflect the adolescent experience and to
highlight topics of interest and concern. Much contemporary teen and young adult material
deals frankly with current social issues and may include controversial language. The value and
impact of such material is examined as a whole because the significance of an entire work often
transcends isolated words, phrases, or incidents.
B. Parent/Guardian Responsibility
The Burley Public Library’s Board of Directors recognizes what may be acceptable material to
one parent/guardian may not be acceptable to another and endorses a policy which holds that
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the parent or legal guardian is the only person who may restrict his/her child’s access to library
resources.
IX. RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN
A. General Principles
Resources selected for children must meet the same selection criteria as all other library
resources. Children’s resources are selected to meet the informational, educational, cultural, and
recreational needs of children, generally defined as newborns to 12-year olds.
In selecting materials for children, consideration is given to originality, accuracy and
timeliness, imagination, graphic design, vocabulary, content, and format to the age of the
reader.
B. Parent/Guardian Responsibility
The Burley Public Library’s Board of Directors recognizes what may be acceptable material to
one parent/guardian may not be acceptable to another and endorses a policy which holds that
the parent or legal guardian is the only person who may restrict his/her child’s access to library
resources.
X. ONLINE RESOURCES
The Internet and licensed/purchased online resources offered by the Burley Public Library
provide access to a wide variety of information from around the country and the world, much of
which supports education, research, government, business, community development, and
recreation. Licensed or purchased online resources are selected for the relevancy of content to
informational and research interests of library users; the accuracy, integrity, and currency of
data; the scope of subject coverage; continued access to archival back files; and the reputation
of the information supplier. Licensed or purchased online resources are evaluated for their ease
of use, search capabilities, ease of connection, system compatibility, frequency of updates, and
the configuration of user licenses. All online resources must meet accepted technical standards
and best practices for operation and equipment usage. Additional factors for evaluation include
whether the online resource is unique, a duplication, or a supplement to an existing source and
whether the resource will be utilized by the entire system or limited to a single department or
location. (See also Burley Public Library Internet Access Policy.)
Xl. GIFTS
The Library welcomes gifts of material or funds to purchase resources. Gifts added to the
collection must meet the same selection criteria as purchased resources. Upon receipt, all such
material or funds become the property of the Burley Public Library. Gift resources may be
added to the collection, sold, exchanged, given to other organizations, or discarded. Gift
resources are integrated into the Library’s collection in normal shelving sequence. The library
does not provide separate shelving and/or special collections for gift items.
Authors and audio/visual artists may donate their items to the Library. For these donated items
to be considered for inclusion in the collection, they must meet the same selection criteria as
purchased resources.
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Memorial gifts are accepted using the same criteria for selection as for purchased material.
Gifts of money are accepted to purchase memorial resources which meet selection criteria.
Such gifts are acknowledged, and a memorial plate is added to the resource (SEE Appendix
C, Material Donation Form).
XII. PROGRAMS, EXHIBITS AND DISPLAYS
Programs, exhibits, and displays are provided for all library patrons and are acknowledged as
important sources of information, ideas, and inspiration which promote and extend the
collections, services, goals, and mission of the Library.
PROGRAMS
The Burley Public Library provides a variety of activities for children, young adults, and adults
such as book discussions, art displays, author visits, lectures, community conversations,
workshops, summer reading programs, storytimes, poetry readings, musical concerts, etc.,
which meet the Library’s goals and objectives. These are referred to collectively as programs.
EXHIBITS AND DISPLAYS
The Burley Public Library maintains complete control over the content of special area displays
as an extension of library resources and services. Supervisors and assigned staff members may
invite individuals or organizations to display materials in order to enhance a library program or
library materials. Items for display highlight or stimulate the use of library resources, relate to
or complement a library exhibit or program, are of cultural, historical or educational
significance, are of notable interest to the community, or relate to other significant events in the
community.
XIII. REPLACEMENTS
Resources withdrawn for reasons of loss, damage, or wear are not automatically replaced.
Consideration for replacement includes availability, circulation records, inclusion in standard
bibliographies, currency, continued value to the collection, and budget and space limitations.
XIV. WITHDRAWAL OF RESOURCES
The Burley Public Library maintains an active policy of withdrawing outdated resources, those
no longer of interest or in demand, duplicates, worn or mutilated copies, and resources which
no longer contribute to the total collection. Withdrawal of library materials is vested in the
Library Director who authorizes qualified staff to perform this process. It is a necessary means
to maintain collection vitality, size, and scope. It is not intended to sanction removal of library
materials based upon controversy.
Because library resources are purchased with public monies, none may be given to an
individual even though it is marked for withdrawal. Withdrawn resources may be sold,
exchanged, or given to the Friends of the Burley Public Library, a non-profit organization at the
discretion of the Library Director.
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APPENDIX A: STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT LIBRARY RESOURCES
The Burley Public Library wishes to thank you for your interest in the Library and its resources.
In order for the Library to address your concern, it must be made in writing. The “Statement of
Concern about Library Resources” form is enclosed.
The Library’s procedure for responding to concerns expressed by Burley Public Library
cardholders is as follows:
• If the library director and the selector for the area in which the item resides determine
that the item in question does not warrant a formal review process, you will receive a
letter explaining why the item will be retained.
• If the library director and the selector determine that the item warrants a review, a staff
committee will be created to review the item and you will be notified that a review
process has begun.
• The Library takes very seriously all concerns expressed by patrons and attempts to
respond as quickly as possible. To ensure that your concern is given careful
consideration, the review process may take as long as six weeks.
• While your concern is under review, there will be no change in the status of resource
in question.
• The Library Director or Assistant Director will contact you upon the completion of the
review process.
The patron expressing a concern about library resources has the right to appeal any
administrative decision to the Board of Directors within two weeks of completion of the staff
review.
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APPENDIX A (FORM): STATEMENT OF CONCERN ABOUT LIBRARY
RESOURCES
The Burley Public Library wishes to thank you for your interest in the Library and its resources.
The Library takes very seriously all concerns expressed by patrons and attempts to respond as
quickly as possible. To ensure that your concern is given careful consideration, the review
process may take as long as six weeks. Before submitting your statement, please read our
Resource Selection Policy. You may find it online at www.bplibrary.org or you may obtain a
paper copy from any Burley Public Library staff member.
Return form to: Director, Burley Public Library, 1300 Miller Ave. Burley ID 83318
TODAY’S DATE: ____________________________ PHONE: _______________________
YOUR NAME: _________________________________________________________
ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________________
CITY/STATE/ZIP: ______________________________________________________
EMAIL ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________
TYPE OF RESOURCE ON WHICH YOU ARE COMMENTING:
BOOK ELECTRONIC RESOURCE LIBRARY PROGRAM MAGAZINE
NEWSPAPER SOUND RECORDING VIDEO/DVD OTHER
Have you examined the entire resource: YES NO
How did you find out about the resource(s)?
What are your concerns about the resources(s)? What action do you seek as a result of this
complaint? Attach additional sheets if necessary.
Are there resource(s) you suggest that provide additional information and/or other viewpoints
on this subject?
YES NO
If yes, we welcome and encourage your recommendations.
Library use only:
Complaint received by BPL staff member:
Date:
OTHER:____________________
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APPENDIX B: COMMUNITY ROOM USE POLICY
The Burley Public Library allows organizations and groups to use the Library Meeting
Room when not needed for activities or programs sponsored in whole or in part by the Library,
and when such use does not disrupt the Library’s programs and activities, subject to the
following:
1. The Library has priority for use of the Meeting Room, and reserves the right to preempt
any scheduled use of the room at any time. After the Library, preference may be given
to City of Burley agencies, and then to local non-profit and community groups.
2. No party using the Library Meeting Room may charge admission fees. No products or
services may be advertised, solicited, or sold on Library property, unless by the Library,
the Friends of the Library, the Burley Public Library Foundation, or another
organization affiliated with the Library.
3. Educational courses conducted by non-profit agencies may charge fees for learning
materials or course credits.
4. No fundraising events are permitted to be held in the Library Meeting Room, unless
sponsored by the Library, the Friends of the Library, the Burley Public Library
Foundation, or another organization affiliated with the Library.
5. As a general guideline, the Library Meeting Room is intended for specific events rather
than for regularly scheduled, on-going meetings. Any exceptions to this general
guideline require prior approval by the Burley Library Board of Trustees.
6. The Library reserves the right to review each prospective use of the Meeting Room to
determine whether the use falls within the Meeting Room guidelines and is consistent
with other Library policies. Permission to use the Library Meeting Room may be
denied, among other reasons, based on the availability of space, availability of staff, or
frequency of use.
7. All users of the Library Meeting Room must adhere to all Library policies, including the
Behavior Policy. Staff will use their best judgment in determining inappropriate use,
and will discuss with customers any activities that are unsuitable for the Meeting Room.
8. The Library retains the right to monitor any meeting held in the Meeting Room to
ensure compliance with Library regulations and policies. Library staff will have free
access to the Meeting Room at all times.
9. Use of the Meeting Room may be terminated at any time if the conduct of the group, or
any member of the group, is disruptive to Library services, is abusive or dangerous to
the Library building, materials, exhibits, or furnishings, or is disruptive to Library
patrons or staff.
10. Permission to use the Meeting Room does not imply Library endorsement of the aims,
policies, or activities of any group or organization.
11. All publicity that uses the name of the Library must include a statement indicating the
event is not sponsored by the Library, but is “Sponsored by (name of the organization).”
12. No animals are allowed in the Meeting Room unless part of a Library sponsored
program or a Seeing Eye or registered companion animal.
13. The Library is not responsible for items or equipment left in the Meeting Room or
building before, during, or after an event.
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14. The Library reserves the right to take photographs of events for its own records and for
future promotional materials.
15. All meetings and events must be completed by no later than fifteen (15) minutes prior to
the Library’s closing.
16. Nothing may be affixed or mounted to the Meeting Room’s walls.
17. Any furniture or equipment moved within the meeting room must be replaced to the
location in which it was found prior to the event.
18. The individual or group reserving the Meeting Room shall be responsible for any
damage to, or loss of, Library property.
19. The Meeting Room shall be left clean at the conclusion of any event, meeting, or other
use of the room. The standard of cleanliness shall be the condition in which the room
was found prior to the event, meeting, or other use.
20. If users of the Meeting Room are also using the Library’s laptops, tablets, e-readers, or
other personal devices in connection with their event, meeting, or other use of the room,
the users may not have food at the event, meeting, or use. Food is allowed with every
other event, meeting, or use of the room that does not involve the use of the Library’s
personal devices, so long as the room is left clean.
21. If a party desires to use any of the Library’s equipment in connection with a scheduled
use of the Meeting Room, they must first be trained on the use of the equipment by
Library staff, and use of the equipment is subject to supervision by Library staff.
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APPENDIX D: THE FREEDOM TO READ
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private
groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit
access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to
distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions
apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that
censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well
as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted
to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert
the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the
ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad.
We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own
decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice
their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for
them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.
These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against
education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is
not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect,
to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or
unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet
suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given
the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and
creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every
enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves
it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.
Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and
write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression
that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for
the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth.
It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation
of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a
creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of
limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our
culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom
to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that
publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read
by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings. The freedom
to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on
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these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that
accompany these rights.
We therefore affirm these propositions:
1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity
of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered
dangerous by the majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new
thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain
themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established
orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the
freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to
them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process.
Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic
mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we
believe but why we believe it.
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation
they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own
political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or
circulated.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge
and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster
education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have
the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any
single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should
be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on
the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of
its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will
not listen, whatever they may have to say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to
the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to
achieve artistic expression.
To some, much of modern expression is shocking; but is not much of life itself shocking?
We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life.
Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of
experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them
learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be
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discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared.
In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised
that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label
characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to
determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be
directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need
others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of people’s freedom to read,
to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their
own standards or tastes upon the community at large and by the government whenever it seeks
to reduce or deny public access to public information.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the
aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another
individual or group. In a free society, individuals are free to determine for themselves what they
wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated
members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own
concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is not
freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies
are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by
governmental prerogative or self-censorship.
7. It is the responsibility of the publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to
read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the
exercise of this affirmation responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad”
book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that
reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision
of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the
major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of
its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and
librarians the utmost of their faculties and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty
claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of
enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the
application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of
expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the
comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people
read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal
to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
15
This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the
American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970
consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of
American Publishers.
Adopted June 25, 1953; revised January 28, 1972, January 16, 1991, July 12, 2000, June 30,
2004, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee.
A Joint Statement by:
American Library Association
Association of American Publishers
Subsequently endorsed by:
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
The Association of American University Presses, Inc.
The Children’s Book Council
Freedom to Read Foundation
National Association of College Stores
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Council of Teachers of English
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
16
APPENDIX F: LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and
ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and
enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be
excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current
and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or
doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide
information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment
of free expression and free access to ideas.
V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age,
background, or views.
VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve
should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or
affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.
Adopted June 18, 1948.
Amended February 2, 1961; June 28, 1967; and January 23, 1980, inclusion of “age” reaffirmed
January 23, 1996, by the ALA Council.
17
APPENDIX F (SPANISH TRANSLATION): DECLARACION DE LOS DERECHOS
DE LAS BIBLIOTECAS
La Asociacion de Bibliotecas de los Estados Unidos (American Libray Association afirma que
todas las bibliotecas son foros abiertos para la informacion y las ideas, y que las siguientes
normas basicas deben dirigir sus servicios.
1. Con el fin de satisfacer el Interes de sus usuarios y darles acceso a todo tipo de
informacion, toda biblioteca debe poner sus libros y otros recursos a la disposicion
detodos integrantes de la comunidad a la cual sirve.
2. Toda biblioteca debe proveer informacion y materials que representen todos puntas de
vista sobre temas historicos y de actualidad. Ningun material debe ser prohibido ni
retirado de circulacion por motivos doctrinarios o partidistas.
3. En su mission de proveer informacion sin restricciones, toda biblioteca debe enfrentarse
a todo acto y tipo de censura.
4. Toda biblioteca debe cooperar con todos los individuos y grupos interesados en
oponerse a cualquier restriccion a la libre expression y ellibre acceso a las ideas.
5. No se debe negar a ninguna persona el derecho de usar la biblioteca por motivos de
origen, edad, antecedents personales o punta de vista.
6. Toda bibliotexca que cuente con espacio disponible para exhibiciones o reunions
publicas, debe ofrecerlo en forma equitativa, sin tener en cuenta la creencia o afllaclon
de los individuos o grupos que soliciten su uso.
Adoptado el 18 de junio de 1948, por el Consejo de la Asociacion de Bibliotecas de los Estados
Unidos.
Enmendado el 2 de febrero de 1961; enmendado el 28 de junio de 1967; enmendado el 23 de
enero de 1980; inclusion de “edad” reafirmado el 24 de enero de 1996.
Burley Public Library Resource Selection Policy
18
APPENDIX Fl: ACCESS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS TO NONPRINT
MATERIALS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Library collections of non-print materials raise a number of intellectual freedom issues,
especially regarding minors. Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, “A person’s right to
use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”
The American Library Association’s principles protect minors’ access to sound, images, data,
games, software, and other content in all formats such as tapes, CDs, DVDs, music CDs,
computer games, software, databases, and other emerging technologies. ALA’s Free Access to
Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights states:
… The “right to use a library” includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services,
materials, and facilities the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of,
library resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or
legal emancipation of users violates Article V.
Parents-and only parents-have the right and responsibility to restrict access of their children-and
only their children-to library resources. Parents who do not want their children to have access to
certain library services, materials, or facilities should so advise their children. Librarians and
library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority
in the private relationship between parent and child.
Lack of access to information can be harmful to minors. Librarians and library governing
bodies have a public and professional obligation to ensure that all members of the community
they serve have free, equal, and equitable access to the entire range of library resources
regardless of content, approach, format, or amount of detail. This principle of library service
applies equally to all users, minors as well as adults. Librarians and library governing bodies
must uphold this principle in order to provide adequate and effective service to minors.
Policies that set minimum age limits for access to any non-print materials or informationtechnology,
with or without parental permission, abridge library use for minors. Age limits
based on the cost of the materials are also unacceptable. Librarians, when dealing with minors,
should apply the same standards to circulation of non-print materials as are applied to books
and other print materials except when directly and specifically prohibited by law.
Recognizing that librarians cannot act in loco parentis, ALA acknowledges and supports the
exercise by parents of their responsibility to guide their own children’s reading and viewing.
Libraries should provide published reviews and/or reference works that contain information
about the content, subject matter, and recommended audiences for non-print materials. These
resources will assist parents in guiding their children without implicating the library in
censorship.
In some cases, commercial content ratings, such as the Motion Picture Association of America
(MPAA) movie ratings, might appear on the packaging or promotional materials provided by
19
producers or distributors. However, marking out or removing this information from materials or
packaging constitutes expurgation or censorship.
MPAA movie ratings, Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) game ratings, and other
rating services are private advisory codes and have no legal standing (Expurgation of Library
Materials). For the library to add ratings to non-print materials if they are not already there, is
unacceptable. It is also unacceptable to post a list of such ratings with a collection or to use
them in circulation policies or other procedures. These uses constitute labeling, “an attempt to
prejudice attitudes” (Labels and Rating Systems), and are forms of censorship. The application
of locally generated ratings schemes intended to provide content warnings to library users is
also inconsistent with the Library Bill of Rights.
The interests of young people, like those of adults, are not limited by subject, theme, or level of
sophistication. Librarians have a responsibility to ensure young people’s access to materials and
services that reflect diversity of content and format sufficient to meet their needs.
Adopted June 28, 1989. Amended June 30, 2004, by the ALA Council.
20
APPENDIX F2: ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC INFORMATION, SERVICES, AND
NETWORKS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill Of Rights
Introduction
Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government.
Freedom of expression encompasses the freedom of speech and the corollary right to receive
information. Libraries and librarians protect and promote these rights by selecting, producing,
providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and
preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology.
The American Library Association expresses these basic principles of librarianship in its Code
of Ethics and in the Library Bill of Rights and its Interpretations. These serve to guide librarians
and library governing bodies in addressing issues of intellectual freedom that arise when the
library provides access to electronic information, services, and networks.
Libraries empower users by providing access to the broadest range of information. Electronic
resources, including information available via the Internet, allow libraries to fulfill this
responsibility better than ever before.
Issues arising from digital generation, distribution, and retrieval of information need to be
approached and regularly reviewed from a context of constitutional principles and ALA policies
so that fundamental and traditional tenets of librarianship are not swept away.
Electronic information flows across boundaries and barriers despite attempts by individuals,
governments, and private entities to channel or control it. Even so, many people lack access or
capability to use electronic information effectively.
In making decisions about how to offer access to electronic information, each library should
consider its mission, goals, objectives, cooperative agreements, and the needs of the entire
community it serves.
The Rights of Users
All library system and network policies, procedures, or regulations relating to electronic
information and services should be scrutinized for potential violation of user rights.
User policies should be developed according to the policies and guidelines established by the
American Library Association, including Guidelines for the Development and Implementation
of Policies, Regulations and Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and
Facilities.
Users’ access should not be restricted or denied for expressing or receiving constitutionally
protected speech. If access is restricted or denied for behavioral or other reasons, users should
be provided due process, including, but not limited to, formal notice and a means of appeal.
21
Information retrieved or utilized electronically is constitutionally protected unless determined
otherwise by a court of law with appropriate jurisdiction. These rights extend to minors as well
as adults (Free Access to Libraries for Minors; Access to Resources and Services in the School
Library Media Program; Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes and Other Nonprint
Formats).
Libraries should use technology to enhance, not deny, access to information. Users have the
right to be free of unreasonable limitations or conditions set by libraries, librarians, system
administrators, vendors, network service providers, or others. Contracts, agreements, and
licenses entered into by libraries on behalf of their users should not violate this right. Libraries
should provide library users the training and assistance necessary to find, evaluate, and use
information effectively.
Users have both the right of confidentiality and the right of privacy. The library should uphold
these rights by policy, procedure, and practice in accordance with Privacy: An Interpretation of
the Library Bill of Rights.
Equity of Access
The Internet provides expanding opportunities for everyone to participate in the information
society, but too many individuals face serious barriers to access. Libraries play a critical role in
bridging information access gaps for these individuals. Libraries also ensure that the public can
find content of interest and learn the necessary skills to use information successfully.
Electronic information, services, and networks provided directly or indirectly by the library
should be equally, readily and equitably accessible to all library users. American Library
Association policies oppose the charging of user fees for the provision of information services
by libraries that receive their major support from public funds (50.3 Free Access to
Information;
53.1.14 Economic Barriers to Information Access; 60.1.1 Minority Concerns Policy Objectives;
61.1 Library Services for the Poor Policy Objectives). All libraries should develop policies
concerning access to electronic information that are consistent with ALA’s policy statements,
including Economic Barriers to Information Access: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of
Rights, Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and
Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities, and Resolution on
Access to the Use of Libraries and Information by Individuals with Physical or Mental
Impairment.
22
Information Resources and Access
Providing connections to global information, services, and networks is not the same as selecting
and purchasing materials for a library collection. Determining the accuracy or authenticity
electronic information may present special problems. Some information accessed electronically
may not meet a library’s selection or collection development policy. It is, therefore, left to each
user to determine what is appropriate. Parents and legal guardians who are concerned about
their children’s use of electronic resources should provide guidance to their own children.
Libraries, acting within their mission and objectives, must support access to information on all
subjects that serve the needs or interests of each user, regardless of the user’s age or the content
of the material. In order to preserve the cultural record and to prevent the loss of information,
libraries may need to expand their selection or collection development policies to ensure
preservation, in appropriate formats, of information obtained electronically. Libraries have an
obligation to provide access to government information available in electronic format.
Libraries and librarians should not deny or limit access to electronic information because of its
allegedly controversial content or because of the librarian’s personal beliefs or fear of
confrontation. Furthermore, libraries and librarians should not deny access to electronic
information solely on the grounds that it is perceived to lack value.
Publicly funded libraries have a legal obligation to provide access to constitutionally protected
information. Federal, state, county, municipal, local, or library governing bodies sometimes
require the use of Internet filters or other technological measures that block access to
constitutionally protected information, contrary to the Library Bill of Rights (ALA Policy
Manual, 53.1.17, Resolution on the Use of Filtering Software in Libraries). If a library uses a
technological measure that blocks access to information, it should be set at the least restrictive
level in order to minimize the blocking of constitutionally protected speech. Adults retain the
right to access all constitutionally protected information and to ask for the technological
measure to be disabled in a timely manner. Minors also retain the right to access
constitutionally protected information and, at the minimum, have the right to ask the library or
librarian to provide access to erroneously blocked information in a timely manner. Libraries and
librarians have an obligation to inform users of these rights and to provide the means to
exercise these rights.
Electronic resources provide unprecedented opportunities to expand the scope of information
available to users. Libraries and librarians should provide access to information presenting all
points of view. The provision of access does not imply sponsorship or endorsement. These
principles pertain to electronic resources no less than they do to the more traditional sources of
information in libraries (Diversity in Collection Development).
1 Martin v. Struthers, 319 U.S. 141 (1943); Lamont v. Postmaster General, 381 U.S. 301
(1965);
Susan Nevelow Mart, The Right to Receive Information, 95 Law Library Journal 2 (2003).
23
2 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969); Board
of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pica, 457 U.S. 853, (1982);
American
Burley Public Library Resource Selection Policy 25
Amusement Machine Association v. Teri Kendrick, 244 F.3d 954 (7th Cir. 2001); cert.denied,
534
U.S. 994 (2001)
3 “lf some libraries do not have the capacity to unblock specific Web sites or to disable the
filter or if it is shown that an adult user’s election to view constitutionally protected Internet
material is burdened in some other substantial way, that would be the subject for an as-applied
challenge, not the facial challenge made in this case.” United States, et al. v. American Library
Association, 539 U.S. 194 (2003) (Justice Kennedy, concurring).
See also: Questions and Answers on Access to Electronic Information, Services and Networks:
An interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.
Adopted January 24, 1996; amended January 19, 2005, by the ALA Council.
24
APPENDIX F3: ACCESS TO LIBRARY RESOURCES AND SERVICES
REGARDLESS OF SEX, GENDER IDENTITY, GENDER EXPRESSION, OR SEXUAL
ORIENTATION
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
American libraries exist and function within the context of a body of laws derived from the
United States Constitution and the First Amendment. The Library Bill of Rights embodies the
basic policies that guide libraries in the provision of services, materials, and programs.
In the preamble to its Library Bill of Rights, the American Library Association affirms that all
[emphasis added] libraries are forums for information and ideas. This concept of forum and its
accompanying principle of inclusiveness pervade all six Articles of the Library Bill of Rights.
The American Library Association stringently and unequivocally maintains that libraries and
librarians have an obligation to resist efforts that systematically exclude materials dealing with
any subject matter, including sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation:
• Article I of the Library Bill of Rights states that “Materials should not be excluded because of
the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” The Association
affirms that books and other materials coming from gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgendered
presses, gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgendered authors or other creators, and materials
regardless of format or services dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual and/or transgendered life are
protected by the Library Bill of Rights. Librarians are obligated by the Library Bill of Rights to
endeavor to select materials without regard to the sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation of
their creators by using the criteria identified in their written, approved selection policies (ALA
policy 53.1.5).
• Article II maintains that “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all
points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed
because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Library services, materials, and programs
representing diverse points of view on sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual
orientation should be considered for purchase and inclusion in library collections and programs.
(ALA policies 53.1.1, 53.1.9, and 53.1.11). The Association affirms that attempts to proscribe
or remove materials dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and/or transgendered life without
regard to the written, approved selection policy violate this tenet and constitute censorship.
• Articles III and IV mandate that libraries “challenge censorship” and cooperate with those
“resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.”
• Article V holds that “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged
because of origin, age, background or views.” In the Library Bill of Rights and all its
Interpretations, it is intended that: “origin” encompasses all the characteristics of individuals
that are inherent in the circumstances of their birth; “age” encompasses all the characteristics of
individuals that are inherent in their levels of development and maturity; “background”
encompasses all the characteristics of individuals that are a result of their life experiences; and
“views” encompasses all the opinions and beliefs held and expressed by individuals. Therefore,
25
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights mandates that library services, materials, and programs
be available to all members of the community the library serves, without regard to sex, gender
identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. This includes providing youth with
comprehensive sex education literature (ALA Policy 52.5.2).
• Article VI maintains that “Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available
to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless
of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.” This protection
extends to all groups and members of the community the library serves, without regard to sex,
gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
The American Library Association holds that any attempt, be it legal or extra-legal, to regulate
or suppress library services, materials, or programs must be resisted in order that protected
expression is not abridged. Librarians have a professional obligation to ensure that all library
users have free and equal access to the entire range of library services, materials, and programs.
Therefore, the Association strongly opposes any effort to limit access to information and ideas.
The Association also encourages librarians to proactively support the First Amendment rights
of all library users, regardless of sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Adopted June 30, 1993, by the ALA Council; amended July 12, 2000, June 30, 2004, July 2,
2008.
26
APPENDIX F4: CHALLENGED MATERIALS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Libraries: An American Value states, “We protect the rights of individuals to express their
opinions about library resources and services.” The American Library Association declares as a
matter of firm principle that it is the responsibility of every library to have a clearly defined
written policy for collection development that includes a procedure for review of challenged
materials. Selection of online resources, including Web sites, should also be governed by this
collection development policy and be subject to the same procedures for review of challenged
materials. This policy reflects the Library Bill of Rights and is approved by the appropriate
governing authority.
Challenged materials should remain in the collection during the review process. The Library
Bill of Rights states in Article I that “Materials should not be excluded because of the origin,
background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” and in Article II, that “Materials
should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Freedom of
expression is protected by the Constitution of the United States, but constitutionally protected
expression is often separated from unprotected expression only by a dim and uncertain line. The
Supreme Court has held that the Constitution requires a procedure designed to examine
critically all challenged expression before it can be suppressed. A hearing is a part of this
procedure. Materials that meet the criteria for selection and inclusion within the collection
should not be removed.
Therefore, any attempt, be it legal or extra-legal, * to regulate or suppress materials in libraries
must be closely scrutinized to the end that protected expression is not abridged.
Adopted June 25, 1971; amended July 1, 1981; amended January 10, 1990; January 28, 2009,
by the ALA Council.
* “Extra-legal” refers to actions that are not regulated or sanctioned by law. These can include
attempts to remove or suppress materials by library staff and library board members that
circumvent the library’s collection development policy, or actions taken by elected officials or
library board members outside the established legal process for making legislative or board
decisions. “Legal process” includes challenges to library materials initiated and conducted
pursuant to the library’s collection development policy, actions taken by legislative bodies or
library boards during official sessions or meetings, or litigation undertaken in courts of law with
jurisdiction over the library and the library’s governing body.
1 Bantam Books, Inc. v. Sullivan, 372 U.S. 58 (1963)
27
APPENDIX F5: DIVERSITY IN COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Collection development should reflect the philosophy inherent in Article II of the Library Bill
of Rights: “Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on
current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan
or doctrinal disapproval.” Library collections must represent the diversity of people and ideas in
our society. There are many complex facets to any issue, and many contexts in which issues
may be expressed, discussed, or interpreted. Librarians have an obligation to select and support
access to materials and resources on all subjects that meet, as closely as possible, the needs,
interests, and abilities of all persons in the community the library serves.
Librarians have a professional responsibility to be inclusive, not exclusive, in collection
development and in the provision of interlibrary loan. Access to all materials and resources
legally obtainable should be assured to the user, and policies should not unjustly exclude
materials and resources even if they are offensive to the librarian or the user. This includes
materials and resources that reflect a diversity of political, economic, religious, social, minority,
and sexual issues. A balanced collection reflects a diversity of materials and resources, not an
equality of numbers.
Collection development responsibilities include selecting materials and resources in different
formats produced by independent, small and local producers as well as information resources
from major producers and distributors. Materials and resources should represent the languages
commonly used in the library’s service community and should include formats that meet the
needs of users with disabilities. Collection development and the selection of materials and
resources should be done according to professional standards and established selection and
review procedures. Librarians may seek to increase user awareness of materials and resources
on various social concerns by many means, including, but not limited to, issuing lists of
resources, arranging exhibits, and presenting programs.
Over time, individuals, groups, and entities have sought to limit the diversity of library
collections. They cite a variety of reasons that include prejudicial language and ideas, political
content, economic theory, social philosophies, religious beliefs, sexual content and expression,
and other potentially controversial topics. Examples of such censorship may include removing
or not selecting materials because they are considered by some as racist or sexist; not
purchasing conservative religious materials; not selecting resources about or by minorities
because it is thought these groups or interests are not represented in a community; or not
providing information or materials from or about non-mainstream political entities. Librarians
have a professional responsibility to be fair, just, and equitable and to give all library users
equal protection in guarding against violation of the library patron’s right to read, view, or listen
to materials and resources protected by the First Amendment, no matter what the viewpoint of
the author, creator, or selector. Librarians have an obligation to protect library collections from
removal of materials and resources based on personal bias or prejudice.
28
Intellectual freedom, the essence of equitable library services, provides for free access to all
expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be
explored. Toleration is meaningless without tolerance for what some may consider detestable.
Librarians must not permit their own preferences to limit their degree of tolerance in collection
development.
Adopted July 14, 1982, by the ALA Council; amended January 10, 1990; July 2, 2008.
29
APPENDIX F6: ECONOMIC BARRIERS TO INFORMATION ACCESS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
A democracy presupposes an informed citizenry. The First Amendment mandates the right of
all persons to free expression, and the corollary right to receive the constitutionally protected
expression of others. The publicly supported library provides free, equal, and equitable access
to information for all people of the community the library serves. While the roles, goals and
objectives of publicly supported libraries may differ, they share this common mission.
The library’s essential mission must remain the first consideration for librarians and governing
bodies faced with economic pressures and competition for funding.
In support of this mission, the American Library Association has enumerated certain principles
of library services in the Library Bill of Rights.
Principles Governing Fines, Fees, and User Charges
Article I of the Library Bill of Rights states:
Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and
enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves.
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states:
A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age,
background, or views.
The American Library Association opposes the charging of user fees for the provision of
information by all libraries and information services that receive their major support from
public funds. All information resources that are provided directly or indirectly by the library,
regardless of technology, format, or methods of delivery, should be readily, equally and
equitably accessible to all library users.
Libraries that adhere to these principles systematically monitor their programs of service for
potential barriers to access and strive to eliminate such barriers when they occur. All library
policies and procedures, particularly those involving fines, fees, or other user charges, should
be scrutinized for potential barriers to access. All services should be designed and implemented
with care, so as not to infringe on or interfere with the provision or delivery of information and
resources for all users. Services should be reevaluated regularly to ensure that the library’s basic
mission remains uncompromised.
Librarians and governing bodies should look for alternative models and methods of library
administration that minimize distinctions among users based on their economic status or
30
financial condition. They should resist the temptation to impose user fees to alleviate financial
pressures, at long-term cost to institutional integrity and public confidence in libraries.
Library services that involve the provision of information, regardless of format, technology, or
method of delivery, should be made available to all library users on an equal and equitable
basis. Charging fees for the use of library collections, services, programs, or facilities that were
purchased with public funds raises barriers to access. Such fees effectively abridge or deny
access for some members of the community because they reinforce distinctions among users
based on their ability and willingness to pay.
Principles Governing Conditions of Funding
Article II of the Library Bill of Rights states:
Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal
disapproval.
Article III of the Library Bill of Rights states:
Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide
information and enlightenment.
Article IV of the Library Bill of Rights states:
Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting
abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
The American Library Association opposes any legislative or regulatory attempt to impose
content restrictions on library resources, or to limit user access to information, as a condition of
funding for publicly supported libraries and information services.
The First Amendment guarantee of freedom of expression is violated when the right to receive
that expression is subject to arbitrary restrictions based on content.
Librarians and governing bodies should examine carefully any terms or conditions attached to
library funding and should oppose attempts to limit through such conditions full and equal
access to information because of content. This principle applies equally to private gifts or
bequests and to public funds. In particular, librarians and governing bodies have an obligation
to reject such restrictions when the effect of the restriction is to limit equal and equitable access
to information.
Librarians and governing bodies should cooperate with all efforts to create a community
consensus that publicly supported libraries require funding unfettered by restrictions. Such a
31
consensus supports the library mission to provide the free and unrestricted exchange of
information and ideas necessary to a functioning democracy.
The Association’s historic position in this regard is stated clearly in a number of Association
policies: 50.4 “Free Access to Information,” 50.8 “Financing of Libraries,” 51.2 “Equal Access
to Library Service,” 51.3 “Intellectual Freedom,” 53 “Intellectual Freedom Policies,” 59.1
“Policy Objectives,” and 60 “Library Services for the Poor.”
Adopted June 30, 1993, by the ALA Council.
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APPENDIX F7: EVALUATING LIBRARY COLLECTIONS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
The continuous review of library materials is necessary as a means of maintaining an active
library collection of current interest to users. In the process, materials may be added and
physically deteriorated or obsolete materials may be replaced or removed in accordance with
the collection maintenance policy of a given library and the needs of the community it serves.
Continued evaluation is closely related to the goals and responsibilities of each library and is a
valuable tool of collection development. This procedure is not to be used as a convenient means
to remove materials that might be viewed as controversial or objectionable. Such abuse of the
evaluation function violates the principles of intellectual freedom and is in opposition to the
Preamble and Articles I and II of the Library Bill of Rights, which state:
The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and
ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information,
and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should
not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to
their creation.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view
on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed
because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
The American Library Association opposes internal censorship and strongly urges that libraries
adopt guidelines setting forth the positive purposes and principles of evaluation of materials in
library collections.
Adopted February 2, 1973, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; June 2, 2008.
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APPENDIX F8: EXHIBIT SPACES AND BULLETIN BOARDS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Libraries often provide exhibit spaces and bulletin boards. The uses made of these spaces
should conform to the Library Bill of Rights Article I states, “Materials should not be excluded
because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” Article II
states, “Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal
disapproval.” Article VI maintains that exhibit space should be made available “on an equitable
basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.”
In developing library exhibits, staff members should endeavor to present a broad spectrum of
opinion and a variety of viewpoints. Libraries should not shrink from developing exhibits
because of controversial content or because of the beliefs or affiliations of those whose work is
represented. Just as libraries do not endorse the viewpoints of those whose work is represented
in their collections, libraries also do not endorse the beliefs or viewpoints of topics that may be
the subject of library exhibits.
Exhibit areas often are made available for use by community groups. Libraries should
formulate a written policy for the use of these exhibit areas to assure that space is provided on
an equitable basis to all groups that request it.
Written policies for exhibit space use should be stated in inclusive rather than exclusive terms.
For example, a policy that the library’s exhibit space is open “to organizations engaged in
educational, cultural, intellectual, or charitable activities” is an inclusive statement of the
limited uses of the exhibit space. This defined limitation would permit religious groups to use
the exhibit space because they engage in intellectual activities, but would exclude most
commercial uses of the exhibit space.
A publicly supported library may designate use of exhibit space for strictly library-related
activities, provided that this limitation is viewpoint neutral and clearly defined.
Libraries may include in this policy rules regarding the time, place, and manner of use of the
exhibit space, so long as the rules are content neutral and are applied in the same manner to all
groups wishing to use the space. A library may wish to limit access to exhibit space to groups
within the community served by the library. This practice is acceptable provided that the same
rules and regulations apply to everyone, and that exclusion is not made on the basis of the
doctrinal, religious, or political beliefs of the potential users.
The library should not censor or remove an exhibit because some members of the community
may disagree with its content. Those who object to the content of any exhibit held at the library
should be able to submit their complaint and/or their own exhibit proposal to be judged
according to the policies established by the library.
34
Libraries may wish to post a permanent notice near the exhibit area stating that the library does
not advocate or endorse the viewpoints of exhibits or exhibitors.
Libraries that make bulletin boards available to public groups for posting notices of public
interest should develop criteria for the use of these spaces based on the same considerations as
those outlined above. Libraries may wish to develop criteria regarding the size of material to be
displayed, the length of time materials may remain on the bulletin board, the frequency with
which material may be posted for the same group, and the geographic area from which notices
will be accepted.
Adopted July 2, 1991, by the ALA Council; amended June 30, 2004.
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APPENDIX F9: EXPURGATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Expurgating library materials is a violation of the Library Bill of Rights. Expurgation as defined
by this interpretation includes any deletion, excision, alteration, editing, or obliteration of any
part(s) of books or other library resources by the library, its agents, or its parent institution (if
any) when done for the purposes of censorship. Such action stands in violation of Articles I, II,
and III of the Library Bill of Rights, which state that “Materials should not be excluded because
of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” that “Materials
should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval,” and that
“Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide
information and enlightenment.”
The act of expurgation denies access to the complete work and the entire spectrum of ideas that
the work is intended to express. This is censorship. Expurgation based on the premise that
certain portions of a work may be harmful to minors is equally a violation of the Library Bill of
Rights.
Expurgation without permission from the rights holder may violate the copyright provisions of
the United States Code.
The decision of rights holders to alter or expurgate future versions of a work does not impose a
duty on librarians to alter or expurgate earlier versions of a work. Librarians should resist such
requests in the interest of historical preservation and opposition to censorship. Furthermore,
librarians oppose expurgation of resources available through licensed collections. Expurgation
of any library resource imposes a restriction, without regard to the rights and desires of all
library users, by limiting access to ideas and information.
Adopted February 2, 1973, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; January 10, 1990; July
2, 2008.
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APPENDIX F l0: FREE ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all
library resources and services available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The
American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services,
materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, “A person’s right to use a library should not be
denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.” The “right to use a library”
includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the
library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely on
the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation of users violates
Article V.
Libraries are charged with the mission of providing services and developing resources to meet
the diverse information needs and interests of the communities they serve. Services, materials,
and facilities that fulfill the needs and interests of library users at different stages in their
personal development are a necessary part of library resources. The needs and interests of each
library user, and resources appropriate to meet those needs and interests, must be determined on
an individual basis. Librarians cannot predict what resources will best fulfill the needs and
interests of any individual user based on a single criterion such as chronological age,
educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation. Equitable access to all library resources
and services shall not be abridged through restrictive scheduling or use policies.
Libraries should not limit the selection and development of library resources simply because
minors will have access to them. Institutional self-censorship diminishes the credibility of the
library in the community, and restricts access for all library users.
Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the right
to receive information through the library in print, non-print, or digital format. Constitutionally
protected speech cannot be suppressed solely to protect children or young adults from ideas or
images a legislative body believes to be unsuitable for them. Librarians and library governing
bodies should not resort to age restrictions in an effort to avoid actual or anticipated objections,
because only a court of law can determine whether material is not constitutionally protected.
The mission, goals, and objectives of libraries cannot authorize librarians or library governing
bodies to assume, abrogate, or overrule the rights and responsibilities of parents and guardians.
As Libraries: An American Value states, “We affirm the responsibility and the right of all
parents and guardians to guide their own children’s use of the library and its resources and
services.” Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the
functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians
and governing bodies should maintain that only parents and guardians have the right and the
responsibility to determine their children’s-and only their children’s-access to library resources.
Parents and guardians who do not want their children to have access to specific library services,
materials, or facilities should so advise their children.
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Lack of access to information can be harmful to minors. Librarians and library governing
bodies have a public and professional obligation to ensure that all members of the community
they serve have free, equal, and equitable access to the entire range of library resources
regardless of content, approach, format, or amount of detail. This principle of library service
applies equally to all users, minors as well as adults. Librarians and library governing bodies
must uphold this principle in order to provide adequate and effective service to minors.
See also Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program and Access to
Children and Young Adults to Non-print Materials.
1 See Erznoznik v. City of Jacksonville, 422 U.S. 205 (1975) “Speech that is neither obscene as
to youths nor subject to some other legitimate proscription cannot be suppressed solely to
protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable for them. In
most circumstances, the values protected by the First Amendment are no less applicable when
government seeks to control the flow of information to minors.” See also Tinker v. Des Moines
School Dist., 393 U.S.503 (1969); West Virginia Bd. of Ed. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943);
AAMA v. Kendrick,. 244 F.3d 572 (7th Cir. 2001).
Adopted June 30, 1972, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30,
2004; July 2, 2008.
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APPENDIX F 11: LABELS AND RATING SYSTEMS
An Interpretation of the library Bill Of Rights
Libraries do not advocate the ideas found in their collections or in resources accessible through
the library. The presence of books and other resources in a library does not indicate
endorsement of their contents by the library. Likewise, providing access to digital information
does not indicate endorsement or approval of that information by the library. Labeling and
rating systems present distinct challenges to these intellectual freedom principles.
Labels on library materials may be viewpoint-neutral directional aids designed to save the time
of users, or they may be attempts to prejudice or discourage users or restrict their access to
materials. When labeling is an attempt to prejudice attitudes, it is a censor’s tool. The American
Library Association opposes labeling as a means of predisposing people’s attitudes toward
library materials.
Prejudicial labels are designed to restrict access, based on a value judgment that the content,
language, or themes of the material, or the background or views of the creator(s) of the
material, render it inappropriate or offensive for all or certain groups of users. The prejudicial
label is used to warn, discourage, or prohibit users or certain groups of users from accessing the
material. Such labels sometimes are used to place materials in restricted locations where access
depends on staff intervention.
Viewpoint-neutral directional aids facilitate access by making it easier for users to locate
materials. The materials are housed on open shelves and are equally accessible to all users, who
may choose to consult or ignore the directional aids at their own discretion.
Directional aids can have the effect of prejudicial labels when their implementation becomes
proscriptive rather than descriptive. When directional aids are used to forbid access or to
suggest moral or doctrinal endorsement, the effect is the same as prejudicial labeling.
Many organizations use rating systems as a means of advising either their members or the
general public regarding the organizations’ opinions of the contents and suitability or
appropriate age for use of certain books, films, recordings, Web sites, games, or other materials.
The adoption, enforcement, or endorsement of any of these rating systems by a library violates
the Library Bill of Rights. When requested, librarians should provide information about rating
systems equitably, regardless of viewpoint.
Adopting such systems into law or library policy may be unconstitutional. If labeling or rating
systems are mandated by law, the library should seek legal advice regarding the law’s
applicability to library operations.
Libraries sometimes acquire resources that include ratings as part of their packaging. Librarians
should not endorse the inclusion of such rating systems; however, removing or destroying the
ratings-if placed there by, or with permission of, the copyright holder-could constitute
expurgation. In addition, the inclusion of ratings on bibliographic records in library catalogs is a
violation of the Library Bill of Rights.
39
Prejudicial labeling and ratings presuppose the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom
to determine by authority what is appropriate or inappropriate for others. They presuppose that
individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. The
American Library Association affirms the rights of individuals to form their own opinions
about resources they choose to read or view.
Adopted July 13, 1951, by the ALA Council; amended June 25, 1971; July 1, 1981; June
26,1990; January 19, 2005; July 15, 2009.
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APPENDIX F12: LIBRARY-INITIATED PROGRAMS AS A RESOURCE
An Interpretation of the Library Bill Of Rights
Library-initiated programs support the mission of the library by providing users with additional
opportunities for information, education, and recreation. Article I of the Library Bill of Rights
states: “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and
enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves.”
Library-initiated programs take advantage of library staff expertise, collections, services and
facilities to increase access to information and information resources. Library-initiated
programs introduce users and potential users to the resources of the library and to the library’s
primary function as a facilitator of information access. The library may participate in
cooperative or joint programs with other agencies, organizations, institutions, or individuals as
part of its own effort to address information needs and to facilitate information access in the
community the library serves.
Library-initiated programs on-site and in other locations include, but are not limited to,
speeches, community forums, discussion groups, demonstrations, displays, and live or media
presentations.
Libraries serving multilingual or multicultural communities should make efforts to
accommodate the information needs of those for whom English is a second language. Libraryinitiated
programs that cross language and cultural barriers introduce otherwise underserved
populations to the resources of the library and provide access to information.
Library-initiated programs “should not be proscribed or removed [or canceled] because of
partisan or doctrinal disapproval” of the contents of the program or the views expressed by the
participants, as stated in Article II of the Library Bill of Rights. Library sponsorship of a
program does not constitute an endorsement of the content of the program or the views
expressed by the participants, any more than the purchase of material for the library collection
constitutes an endorsement of the contents of the material or the views of its creator.
Library-initiated programs are a library resource, and, as such, are developed in accordance
with written guidelines, as approved and adopted by the library’s policy-making body. These
guidelines should include an endorsement of the Library Bill of Rights and set forth the library’s
commitment to free and open access to information and ideas for all users.
Library staff select topics, speakers and resource materials for library-initiated programs based
on the interests and information needs of the community. Topics, speakers and resource
materials are not excluded from library-initiated programs because of possible controversy.
Concerns, questions or complaints about library-initiated programs are handled according to the
same written policy and procedures that govern reconsiderations of other library resources.
Library-initiated programs are offered free of charge and are open to all. Article V of the
Library Bill of Rights states: “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged
because of origin, age, background, or views.”
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The “right to use a library” encompasses all the resources the library offers, including the right
to attend library-initiated programs. Libraries do not deny or abridge access to library resources,
including library-initiated programs, based on an individual’s economic background or ability to
pay.
Adopted January 27, 1982, by the ALA Council; amended June 26, 1990; July 12, 2000.
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APPENDIX F13: PRIVACY
An Interpretation of the Library Bill Of Rights
Introduction
Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. The courts
have established a First Amendment right to receive information in a publicly funded library.
Further, the courts have upheld the right to privacy based on the Bill of Rights of the U.S.
Constitution. Many states provide guarantees of privacy in their constitutions and statute law.3
Numerous decisions in case law have defined and extended rights to privacy.4
In a library (physical or virtual), the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having
the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others. Confidentiality exists when a
library is in possession of personally identifiable information about users and keeps that
information private on their behalf.5
Protecting user privacy and confidentiality has long been an integral part of the mission of
libraries. The ALA has affirmed a right to privacy since 1939.6 Existing ALA policies affirm
hat confidentiality is crucial to freedom of inquiry.7 Rights to privacy and confidentiality also
are implicit in the Library Bill of Rights8 guarantee of free access to library resources for all
users.
Rights of Library Users
The Library Bill of Rights affirms the ethical imperative to provide unrestricted access to
information and to guard against impediments to open inquiry. Article IV states: “Libraries
should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free
expression and free access to ideas.” When users recognize or fear that their privacy or
confidentiality is compromised, true freedom of inquiry no longer exists.
In all areas of librarianship, best practice leaves the user in control of as many choices as
possible. These include decisions about the selection of, access to, and use of information. Lack
of privacy and confidentiality has a chilling effect on users’ choices. All users have a right to be
free from any unreasonable intrusion into or surveillance of their lawful library use.
Users have the right to be informed what policies and procedures govern the amount and
retention of personally identifiable information, why that information is necessary for the
library, and what the user can do to maintain his or her privacy. Library users expect and in
many places have a legal right to have their information protected and kept private and
confidential by anyone with direct or indirect access to that information. In addition, Article V
of the Library Bill of Rights states: “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or
abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.” This article precludes the use of
profiling as a basis for any breach of privacy rights. Users have the right to use a library without
any abridgement of privacy that may result from equating the subject of their inquiry with
behavior.9
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Responsibilities in Libraries
The library profession has a long-standing commitment to an ethic of facilitating, not
monitoring, access to information. This commitment is implemented locally through
development, adoption, and adherence to privacy policies that are consistent with applicable
federal, state, and local law. Everyone (paid or unpaid) who provides governance,
administration, or service in libraries has a responsibility to maintain an environment respectful
and protective of the privacy of all users. Users have the responsibility to respect each others’
privacy.
For administrative purposes, librarians may establish appropriate time, place, and manner
restrictions on the use of library resources.10 In keeping with this principle, the collection of
personally identifiable information should only be a matter of routine or procedure when
necessary for the fulfillment of the mission of the library. Regardless of the technology used,
everyone who collects or accesses personally identifiable information in any format has a legal
and ethical obligation to protect confidentiality.
Conclusion
The American Library Association affirms that rights of privacy are necessary for intellectual
freedom and are fundamental to the ethics and practice of librarianship.
1 Court opinions establishing a right to receive information in a public library include Board of
Education. v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982); Kreimer v. Bureau Of Police For The Town Of
Morristown, 958 F.2d 1242 (3d Cir. 1992); and Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 117
S.Ct. 2329, 138 L.Ed.2d 874 (1997).
2 See in particular the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee of “[t]he right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” the
Fifth Amendment’s guarantee against self-incrimination, and the Ninth Amendment’s guarantee
that “[t]he enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
disparage others retained by the people.” This right is explicit in Article Twelve of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and
reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks.”
See: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.htmI.This right has further been explicitly codified as
Article Seventeen of the “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” a legally
binding international human rights agreement ratified by the United States on June 8, 1992.
See: http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm.
3 Ten state constitutions guarantee a right of privacy or bar unreasonable intrusions into
citizens’ privacy. Forty-eight states protect the confidentiality of library users’ records by law,
and the attorneys general in the remaining two states have issued opinions recognizing the
privacy of users’ library records. See: State Privacy Laws.
44
4 Cases recognizing a right to privacy include: NAACP v. Alabama, 357 U.S. 449 (1958);
Griswold v. Connecticut 381 U.S. 479 (1965); Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967); and
Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557 (1969). Congress recognized the right to privacy in the
Privacy Act of 1974 and Amendments (5 USC Sec. 552a), which addresses the potential for
government’s violation of privacy through its collection of personal information. The Privacy
Act’s “Congressional Findings and Statement of Purpose” state in part: “the right to privacy is a
personal and fundamental right protected by the Constitution of the United States.”
See: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=5&sec=552a.
5 The phrase “Personally identifiable information” was established in ALA policy in 1991. See:
Policy Concerning Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information about Library Users.
Personally identifiable information can include many types of library records, for instance:
information that the library requires an individual to provide in order to be eligible to use
library services or borrow materials, information that identifies an individual as having
requested or obtained specific materials or materials on a particular subject, and information
that is provided by an individual to assist a library staff member to answer a specific question or
provide information on a particular subject. Personally identifiable information does not include
information that does not identify any individual and that is retained only for the purpose of
studying or evaluating the use of a library and its materials and services. Personally identifiable
information does include any data that can link choices of taste, interest, or research with a
specific individual.
6 Article Eleven of the Code of Ethics for Librarians (1939) asserted that it is the librarian’s
obligation to treat as confidential any private information obtained through contact with library
patrons.” See: Code of Ethics for Librarians (1939). Article Three of the current Code (1995)
states: “We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to
information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted.”
See: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ethics.html.
7 See these ALA Policies: Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes [Video] and
Other Non-print Formats; Free Access to Libraries for Minors; Freedom to Read
(http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/freeread.html); Libraries: An American Value; the newly revised
Library Principles for a Networked World; Policy Concerning Confidentiality of Personally
Identifiable Information about Library Users; Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records;
Suggested Procedures for Implementing Policy on the Confidentiality of Library Records.
8 Adopted June 18, 1948; amended February 2, 1961, and January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age”
reaffirmed January 23, 1996, by the ALA Council.
See: http://www.ala.org/work/freedom/lbr.html.
9 Existing ALA Policy asserts, in part, that: “The government’s interest in library use reflects a
dangerous and fallacious equation of what a person reads with what that person believes or how
that person is likely to behave. Such a presumption can and does threaten the freedom of access
to information.” Policy Concerning Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information about
Library Users.
45
10 See: Guidelines for the Development and Implementation of Policies, Regulations and
Procedures Affecting Access to Library Materials, Services and Facilities.
Adopted June 19, 2002, by the ALA Council.
46
APPENDIX F14: RESTRICTED ACCESS TO LIBRARY MATERIALS
An Interpretation of the Library Bill Of Rights
Libraries are a traditional forum for the open exchange of information. Restricting access to
library materials violates the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights.
Some libraries block access to certain materials by placing physical or virtual barriers between
the user and those materials. For example, materials are sometimes placed in a “locked case,”
“adults only,” “restricted shelf,” or “high-demand” collection. Access to certain materials is
sometimes restricted to protect them from theft or mutilation, or because of statutory authority
or institutional mandate.
In some libraries, access is restricted based on computerized reading management programs
that assign reading levels to books and/or users and limit choice to those materials on the
program’s reading list. Materials that are not on the reading management list have been
removed from the collection in some school libraries. Organizing collections by reading
management program level, ability, grade, or age level is another example of restricted access.
Even though the chronological age or grade level of users is not representative of their
information needs or total reading abilities, users may feel inhibited from selecting resources
located in areas that do not correspond to their assigned characteristics.
Physical and virtual restrictions on access to library materials may generate psychological,
service, or language skills barriers to access as well. Because restricted materials often deal
with controversial, unusual, or sensitive subjects, having to ask a librarian or circulation clerk
for access to them may be embarrassing or inhibiting for patrons desiring the materials. Even
when a title is listed in the catalog with a reference to its restricted status, a barrier is placed
between the patron and the publication. (See also Labels and Rating Systems.) Because
restricted materials often feature information that some people consider objectionable, potential
library users may be predisposed to think of the materials as objectionable and, therefore, be
reluctant to ask for access to them.
Although federal and state statutes require libraries that accept specific types of state and/or
federal funding to install filters that limit access to Internet resources for minors and adults,
filtering software applied to Internet stations in some libraries may prevent users from finding
targeted categories of information, much of which is constitutionally protected. The use of
Internet filters must be addressed through library policies and procedures to ensure that users
receive information and that filters do not prevent users from exercising their First Amendment
rights. Users have the right to unfiltered access to constitutionally protected information. (See
also Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Resources.)
Library policies that restrict access to materials for any reason must be carefully formulated and
administered to ensure they do not violate established principles of intellectual freedom. This
caution is reflected in ALA policies, such as “Evaluating Library Collections,” “Free Access to
Libraries for Minors,” “Reservation Policy,” and the ACRL “Code of Ethics for Special
Collections Librarians.”
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Donated materials require special consideration. In keeping with the “Joint Statement on
Access” of the American Library Association and Society of American Archivists, libraries
should avoid accepting donor agreements or entering into contracts that impose permanent
restrictions on special collections. As stated in the “Joint Statement on Access,” it is the
responsibility of a library with such collections “to make available original research materials in
its possession on equal terms of access.”
A primary goal of the library profession is to facilitate access to all points of view on current
and historical issues. All proposals for restricted access should be carefully scrutinized to
ensure that the purpose is not to suppress a viewpoint or to place a barrier between users and
content. Libraries must maintain policies and procedures that serve the diverse needs of their
users and protect the First Amendment right to receive information.
Adopted February 2, 1973, by the ALA Council; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; July 12,
2000; June 30, 2004; January 28, 2009.
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APPENDIX F15: THE UNIVERSAL RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION
An Interpretation of the Library Bill Of Rights
Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government.
Freedom of expression encompasses the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, and
association, and the corollary right to receive information.
The American Library Association endorses this principle, which is also set forth in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. The
Preamble of this document states that ” … recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal
and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice,
and peace in the world … ” and ” … the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy
freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the
highest aspiration of the common people … .”
Article 18 of this document states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right
includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in
community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in
teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19 states:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.
Article 20 states:
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
We affirm our belief that these are inalienable rights of every person, regardless of origin, age,
background, or views. We embody our professional commitment to these principles in the
Library Bill of Rights and Code of Ethics, as adopted by the American Library Association.
We maintain that these are universal principles and should be applied by libraries and librarians
throughout the world. The American Library Association’s policy on International Relations
reflects these objectives:
” … to encourage the exchange, dissemination, and access to information and the unrestricted
flow of library materials in all formats throughout the world.”
We know that censorship, ignorance, and limitations on the free flow of information are the
tools of tyranny and oppression. We believe that ideas and information topple the walls of hate
49
and fear and build bridges of cooperation and understanding far more effectively than weapons
and armies.
The American Library Association is unswerving in its commitment to human rights and
intellectual freedom; the two are inseparably linked and inextricably entwined. Freedom of
opinion and expression is not derived from or dependent on any form of government or political
power. This right is inherent in every individual. It cannot be surrendered, nor can it be denied.
True justice comes from the exercise of this right.
We recognize the power of information and ideas to inspire justice, to restore freedom and
dignity to the oppressed, and to change the hearts and minds of the oppressors.
Courageous men and women, in difficult and dangerous circumstances throughout human
history, have demonstrated that freedom lives in the human heart and cries out for justice even
in the face of threats, enslavement, imprisonment, torture, exile, and death. We draw inspiration
from their example. They challenge us to remain steadfast in our most basic professional
responsibility to promote and defend the right of free expression.
There is no good censorship. Any effort to restrict free expression and the free flow of
information aids the oppressor. Fighting oppression with censorship is self-defeating.
Threats to the freedom of expression of any person anywhere are threats to the freedom of all
people everywhere. Violations of human rights and the right of free expression have been
recorded in virtually every country and society across the globe.
In response to these violations, we affirm these principles:
• The American Library Association opposes any use of governmental prerogative that
leads to the intimidation of individuals that prevents them from exercising their rights to
hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information and
ideas. We urge libraries and librarians everywhere to resist such abuse of governmental
power, and to support those against whom such governmental power has been
employed.
• The American Library Association condemns any governmental effort to involve
libraries and librarians in restrictions on the right of any individual to hold opinions
without interference, and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas. Such
restrictions pervert the function of the library and violate the professional
responsibilities of librarians.
• The American Library Association rejects censorship in any form. Any action that denies the
inalienable human rights of individuals only damages the will to resist oppression, strengthens
the hand of the oppressor, and undermines the cause of justice.
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• The American Library Association will not abrogate these principles. We believe that
censorship corrupts the cause of justice, and contributes to the demise of freedom.
Adopted January 16, 1991, by the ALA Council.