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Archive for August, 2008
SEFLIN Intellectual Freedom Workshop
I’m confident that you, as library workers, probably know the term “intellectual freedom.” For me, it was one of the big reasons I got into libraries in the first place. So I was pleased to be able to attend the recent SEFLIN workshop on the topic. It presented an overview of the subject, as well as a look at some recent developments and some suggested policies for libraries.
Just so we’re on the same page, the American Library Association (ALA) defines intellectual freedom this way:
“Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive, and disseminate ideas.”
Among the things I found interesting about the workshop was the historical perspective it provided. I think that many people new to library work are most familiar with intellectual freedom in relation to the USA Patriot Act and the government’s attempts to seize library records under that piece of legislation. This all happened since 2001. But the fight over intellectual freedom goes back to the early 1930s, at least as far as the ALA’s involvement with it. Battles over censorship and blocked access to information is clearly not a 21st century phenomenon.
Another insight I found interesting was that the assault on intellectual freedom is not always based on indecency or political ideology. Certainly those are the categories we most think of when we think of banned books and blocked Internet sites. Economics can also prompt intellectual freedom infringements, as was seen early last century when a powerful California farmer managed to pressure his local library to remove copies of “The Grapes of Wrath” from its shelves because of its portrayal of migrant workers, on whom this man depended for his livelihood.
This is a huge topic, and my hands would fall off before I could cover everything presented at the workshop. I’ll be happy to share with you the handouts I received. But a great starting place is http://ala.org/ala/oif/default.cfm.
–Mark
