Responding to Concerns
Consider these points to use in describing your library's position on censorship and challenges.
What are your colleagues saying? Read some examples here.
Restricting access to ideas and information runs counter to the First Amendment’s protection of free discourse.
Dozens of groups have shared public statements outlining their reasoning against censorship. These discussions are important tools for educating the public on the dangers posed by censorship of library materials. Several common ideas can be found in statements from a range of professional associations, authors, and others concerned with the freedom to read:
The library serves the whole community.
Freedom to read is our right.
"Individuals of all ages have a constitutional right to use library resources and services. (Censorship efforts ask us) to abandon constitutional principles, ignore the rule of law, and disregard individual rights."
Libraries oppose “any effort to coerce belief, suppress opinion, or punish those whose expression does not conform to what is deemed orthodox in history, politics, or belief. The unfettered exchange of ideas is essential to the preservation of a free and democratic society.”
"As members of a profession committed to free and equitable access to information and the pursuit of truth, we stand firm in opposing any effort to suppress knowledge, to label “controversial” views, or dictate what is orthodox in history, politics, or belief."
(ALA –censorship of historical and social justice information)
“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."
The library serves the whole community.
“Censorship is a breach of respect, on the part of some members of society, for the human dignity and equality of other members of society.”
(International Federation of Library Associations statement on censorship)
Not all books will appeal to every reader, and the library provides a variety of choices for just that reason. We encourage parents and caregivers to talk with their children about their reading choices.
School Libraries
“Parents have the right to set reading parameters and restrictions for their own children. However, no one person or group has the right to make choices for other children.”
In the Supreme Court’s 1982 case: Island Trees School District v. Pico, Justice Brennan wrote for the majority opinion: “We hold that local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books and seek by their removal to ‘prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of public opinion.’"
Librarians are highly trained in selection of materials.
In most cases, librarians are required to hold a master's degree, and school librarians have additional training in education. Academic librarians often hold a second master's in a specific subject area. Many law librarians hold a law degree in addition to their master's in Library Science.
Professional practice requires each library to maintain a policy for selection of materials to help reduce the influence of any individual's personal preferences upon collection development. The policy also ensures the library's collection aligns with the mission of that particular library.
This policy, along with the librarian's knowledge of their library users, guides the selection of materials that will help meet the information needs and interests of that unique community.
Community members who raise concerns about library materials deserve to be respectfully heard, and if desired they may submit a formal challenge. This process should be clearly laid out by the library in a reconsideration policy.
"The selection of materials for school libraries is guided by district collection development policies and guidelines from the American Library Association. Districts also have reconsideration policies and procedures for constituents wishing to request review of specific materials. These procedures should be followed each and every time a request is made to remove a book or library resource."
The presence of diverse voices is beneficial to all of us.
Attempts to restrict access to specific facts or ideas and suppress voices too long silenced threaten our development as a society and our progress toward social justice.
Libraries have a role in “opposing any legislative proposal or local initiative intended to ban instruction, consideration, or discussion about the role of racism in the history of the United States or how systemic racism manifests itself in our schools, workplaces, and government agencies.”
(ALA –censorship of historical and social justice information)
“Children have the right to read texts that mirror their experiences and languages, provide windows into the lives of others, and open doors into our diverse world."
(International Literacy Association)
The right book can be a lifeline for marginalized youth. Seeing themselves in books helps LGBTQIA youth, youth of color, youth with disabilities, immigrants, young victims of domestic violence, etc. to feel less isolated. More understood. Hopeful. Empowered. And these books in turn encourage more privileged youth to empathize and to form a more accurate picture of the society in which they live.
