Censorship in libraries

Abstract

Censorship is an issue which has been present throughout recorded history. From the beginning, it has been used by individuals and groups to prevent and control the creation, access and dissemination of ideas and information. It has taken many different forms and occurred for many different reasons. The relationship between librarians and censorship is, and has been, a troubled one. The difficulty lies in the conflict of between the obligation the librarian has to serve his or her community, users and governing bodies for which they work for and are funded by. Religion, politics and sex cause particular problems. This paper attempts to examine what the role of the librarian is in facilitating access to controversial information. It reports the results of research involving the questioning of key figures in the Michael Moore “Stupid White Men” case study and the following organisations and people: ALA, CILIP, Judith Krug of the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and Corey Mwamaba (librarian, Derby Library). The paper concludes that there is an intellectual freedom ideal in the library profession. This ideal is difficult to implement in a public library, but is still a worthy ideal and one which forms the core of the role of a librarian.

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