Be Intellectual Freedom Friends
Library Bill of Rights
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
None of this is new to you I hope, but those three articles from the Library Bill of Rights get me incredibly excited. Hopefully they get you excited as well. The reason I love them is because they are not passive proclamations of professional hopes. They are calls to extraordinary action. So often the news about intellectual freedom is reactive. Usually a book is being challenged, or a class is being removed, or something else is happening to a library or librarian. We rally the troops, we write our petitions, and we do every thing we can to make sure we do not lose ground.
What I love about these three articles is that they are about much more than protecting intellectual freedom and stopping censorship. They are about EXPANDING intellectual freedom. They are about creating a society that wouldn’t even think about censoring information resources.
II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.
We shouldn’t be hoping that our libraries represent all points of view, we should be actively making sure that they represent all points of view. We should be buying materials that make us uncomfortable and that question the status quo. Yes, the second half of the statement is reactive, we should not allow things to be removed, but that only comes after we have done an active and good job of building a diverse collection.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.
We are CHALLENGING censorship, not trying to minimize the fallout. Yes, I understand that statesmanship is always necessary, and peoples’ concerns should be heard with empathy. But challenging is not a meek word. These moments are our opportunities to show the world what we do, and educate our communities about the need for intellectual freedom, diversity, and open dialogue.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
Now this is my favorite of them all. Not only are we supposed to fight our own battles, but we need to be allies to other intellectual freedom fighters. We need to seek out these battles and help other people and organizations create a world that protects intellectual freedom. We need to seek out partners, not for our sake, but for the benefit of intellectual freedom. A few weeks back I wrote a post about EveryLibrary. I love their slogan (Any library initiative anywhere, matters to every library everywhere). This slogan is also good for intellectual freedom. Any intellectual freedom battle anywhere, should matter to every intellectual freedom fighter everywhere. Battles between Apple and the FBI impact our communities. Battles between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and video game makers impact our communities. Battles between whistle blowers and the NSA impact our communities. These are all our fights.
We all have limited time and limited resources, but we should make tangible goals to fight for intellectual freedom, not just protect intellectual freedom. I’m going to make the goal to better integrate intellectual freedom awareness into my library instruction classes. I want to help build intellectual freedom fighters.
So, what are you going to do?
Dustin Fife is the Outreach and Patron Services Librarian at Utah Valley University Library. Prior to coming to UVU Library, Dustin spent six years as a public library director for San Juan County, Utah. Dustin is currently the President of the Utah Library Association. He can be reached at dustin.fife@uvu.edu.