Chapter 38 Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, readers should be able to:

• Understand the concept of intellectual freedom as a human right and its role in maintaining a democratic society.

• Describe the legal doctrines, including the First Amendment, that govern U.S. public libraries' policies and practices regarding censorship, access, and user privacy.

• Identify ALA and IFLA statements of professional values that are central to the information professions' practice of intellectual freedom.

• Highlight key policies that help prevent censorship, assure users' access to library resources, and protect users' privacy.

• Discuss contemporary challenges to information organizations' ability to foster and sustain intellectual freedom.

Chapter 38 Instructor PowerPoint

Downloadable PowerPoint presentation and PowerPoint notes for course instruction. These files are only accessible to instructors who have adopted Information Services Today: An Introduction (3rd ed) for their course. To request access, please click on the images below or email Sandy Hirsh.

Chapter 38 Discussion Questions

The following questions are included in the textbook.

1. The American Library Association identifies both intellectual freedom and social justice as core values of the profession. In what ways do these values come into conflict? In what ways do they complement each other?

2. A publisher announces that it is allowing a popular children's book to go out of print because of its racist depictions of persons of color. Should the library also withdraw those books from its collection? Does the library have a responsibility to defend or remove such materials?

Additional questions proposed by the author but not included in the textbook.

1. Often library users request materials that contain false or inaccurate information. Are there principles of intellectual freedom that support the adding such materials to a library's collection?

2. The local elementary school district relies on reading programs that require students to limit their reading to books with a particular level of difficulty. Some parents ask the community's public library to limit their students' access to books based on the program's criteria. How should the library respond?

3. Are there any circumstances that would allow the disclosure of a library user's records or personal information?

4. The Library Bill of Rights is presented as the ALA's basic policy on intellectual freedom. In what ways can its principles be said to advance social justice?

Handouts

The following documents are formatted to share with students as handouts.

Related Chapters

The following chapters are referenced in Chapter 38 and may assist in expanding your classroom instruction and discussions.

• Chapter 6: Equity of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Chapter 10: Community Anchors for Lifelong: Learning: Public Libraries

• Chapter 27: Managing Collections

• Chapter 33: Information Ethics

• Chapter 37: Information Privacy and Cybersecurity