By Loralei A. Gilliam

March 2000 – “Librarians also must be prepared to defend intellectual freedom in all its forms – when a book is removed from a library shelf, when a challenge is brought before a local school board, or when a filter is installed on a library computer to restrict Internet access. When censorship is attempted, not only is our Constitutional right to seek and receive information endangered, but also the very essence of our democratic society put at risk.”

American Library Association Intellectual Freedom brochure

After spending four days attending the American Library Association’s (ALA) Midwinter Conference in San Antonio, Texas, I came away amazed at a presumption that seems to underlie every policy. That presumption is that this private organization has the right to determine policy for the nation’s public libraries.

The idea that our public libraries are tax-supported and owned by local communities escapes their logic. And when communities demand that a moral standard be maintained in their libraries, the ALA waves its rally flags of “censorship” and “intellectual freedom.”

The ‘evil’ of Internet filtering
Throughout the conference one theme prevailed: the demonizing of Internet filters in public libraries. I couldn’t help getting the impression that the ALA is scrambling to put out a flame before it becomes a firestorm. Clearly the ALA hard-liners sense that voters and elected officials are becoming increasingly concerned about patrons’ and employees’ safety in libraries with unrestricted Internet access. No doubt they are aware that on a federal, state and local level laws are being proposed to mandate filters, and a coordinated opposition by their group must be established if “intellectual freedom” is to be protected.

During one Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) meeting, IFC Chair Steven Herb briefed attendees on the battle over filtering in Holland, Michigan. There a local AFA affiliate has gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the February 22 ballot.

Equipped to defend
The ALA is going to great lengths to arm its librarians with rhetoric to defend their policies. Resources like the video For Freedom’s Sake, produced by the ALA, use role-playing to show librarians how to deal with patrons who raise concerns about questionable content in books.

The Libraries and the Internet Toolkit is another ALA resource which identifies pornography as one landmine around which librarians must learn to maneuver. When a patron asks, “Why do librarians allow kids to have access to pornography?” librarians are told to answer:

We don’t. Libraries have policies and procedures for dealing with this. No one is more concerned about children than librarians. Many of us are parents. Our role is to help children have a positive online experience.

Another disingenuous and misleading answer is suggested when a patron asks, “What’s wrong with filters anyway?” The response:

The problem with filters is that they don’t work very well. They block a lot of good information.… Filters also can give parents a false sense their children are protected when porn in public libraries they aren’t. Filters miss 15% or more of sites with undesirable material.

In reality, the ALA’s opposition to filtering has much more to do with the fact that filtering offends its sense of “intellectual freedom.” The ALA holds the view that all information, including pornography, is good, and therefore all information should be available to everyone regardless of age.

The first article of the Library Bill of Rights states:

Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” Another article says, “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views. (Emphasis added.)

Long ago and far away…
As a child I enjoyed afternoon trips to the local library with my grandfather. I remember the pride I felt when I received my first library card. I remember the joy of sitting in the children’s section reading book after book. My love of reading began there at that little library. But my children will not have that experience. My children will not go to a public library after what I learned this weekend.

According to one ALA publication, “libraries build community.” If that statement is even partially true, we must ask, “Do we want a community that believes its children should have unrestricted access to hardcore pornography, instructions on bomb-making, and every other antisocial advocacy group’s web site?” I hope not.

Most adults know what the ALA seems to have forgotten: that being a productive member of society carries with it a responsibility to reasonably protect others, especially children. Let’s demand that our public libraries live up to that mandate.