Intellectual Freedom

Protecting students' right to intellectual freedom is one of the main responsibilities of a librarian. Intellectual freedom is "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas" (Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A, The American Library Association).

Intellectual freedom is extremely relevant in today's society, especially in school libraries. It is the job of the librarian to make sure students have access to all types of resources. Intellectual freedom becomes a challenge in school libraries because of parental rights. Although parents have a right to monitor what their child is allowed to read or access, a parent can not monitor all other students' intellectual freedom right, which is why school libraries follow strict policies in ensuring each student's intellectual freedom right is being upheld.

This digital curation includes valuable resources in understanding intellectual freedom, and it also provides valuable tools for parents and educators to use when examining and discussing school libraries and intellectual freedom.