Intellectual Freedom

Library Bill of Rights
<http://tinyurl.com/ck7jybp>

This is American Library Association's basic policy on intellectual freedom. It's six points demand library materials are for the whole community, library collections should represent all points of view, librarians should resist censorship, everyone should be allowed to use the library and library exhibit spaces and meeting rooms should be available to everyone. Through the years, ALA has written a number of interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights for a variety of situations.

Freedom to Read
<http://tinyurl.com/cbhny9w>

In the early 1950s, citizen groups and legislators were proposing and implementing a variety of methods for censorship including labeling. The American Library Association adopted The Freedom to Read in 1953. Its stated that the American people did not need help is deciding what to read and the public benefited by having a variety of published material.

Freedom to View Statement
<http://tinyurl.com/a8q8d7n>

In this statement, the American Library Association extends the claims in the Library Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read about reading to viewing audiovisual materials.

Libraries: An American Value
<http://tinyurl.com/aupm8s4>

This is a recent statement explaining how libraries "cornerstones of communities" providing "[f]ree access to the books, ideas, resources, and information ... for education, employment, enjoyment, and self-government."