Boston Public Library
Collection Development and Management Policy Appendices

Policies & Procedures

Table of Contents

Library Department Listing

General Library

Research Library

Branches

Selection Criteria for the Acquisition of Adult Materials,

The Boston Public Library's mission is to preserve and provide access to the historical record of our society, and to serve the cultural, educational and informational needs of the City and the Commonwealth.

The Administrative and Support Services Division of the library proposes goals and objectives to the Board of Trustees; plans, directs, and manages the Library to insure effective and efficient response to citizen needs; and provides centralized functional support for the community and research libraries' services. The Division encompasses the centralized offices of the Director, Human Resources, Business Operations, Physical Plant, Systems, and Public Relations and Information.

In its fulfillment of this mission, the Library does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, military status, sex, sexual preference, age, parental or marital status, or mental or physical disability.

The Community Library Services Division supports the changing educational, informational, and cultural needs of adults, young adults and children through the provision of circulating collections of print and non-print materials, access to electronic resources. Professionally skilled staff with age level specialization's provide readers advisory and reference services, public programs, and outreach activities. The Division encompasses 25 neighborhood branch libraries, a mobile library services unit, and the central General Library and Circulation Services Departments.

The Research Library Services Division acquires, maintains, preserves, and provides access to research materials and information in all fields of knowledge for users on local, state, and national levels through the assistance of staff trained in specialized subject fields. The Division encompasses the central Research Library Departments, the Kirstein Business Branch, and three remote storage sites: the Charlestown and Norwood Service Buildings and the New England Deposit Library.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this statement is to clarify the criteria used for selecting materials, as well as the responsibility for the various collections dispersed throughout the Community Library Services Division. We have included goals and objectives, as well as a description of the communities served and the philosophy of the library (mission statement), to put these criteria into perspective.

All branches and the General Library will be able to fulfill any of the roles for public libraries subject to limitations of staff, budget, space and community interests. Emphasis may differ based on the above mentioned variables. Examples include: lifelong learning, reference and community information, and popular materials. The role the agencies adopt will affect emphasis on selection priorities.

The Library's organizational structure for service is based on a geographic distribution of facilities, and on the division of collections on the basis of subject, genre, material format, or reading level.

These are guidelines only. They serve as a framework for librarians new to the system as they select materials and as reference points for more experienced staff.

RESPONSIBILITY The responsibility for materials selection is delegated to the professional library staff by the Library Director. Except in extraordinary circumstances, the selectors hold a Masters degree in Library Science.

MATERIALS CRITERIA

Although most purchases will continue to be print materials the Boston Public Library is committed to acquiring access to newer formats as budgets and support technology allow.

FICTION

Factors for selection include genre, expected demand, and community interests.

NONFICTION

For non-fiction, criteria include accuracy, currency, indices, and other reference tools. Availability of other titles in the field is also considered.

ADDITIONAL SELECTION CRITERIA

Not all criteria apply to all acquisitions.

• Reputation or qualifications of the author, artist or publisher.
• The appearance of the title or author in special lists and bibliographies.
• Timeliness or permanence of the work
• Clarity, accuracy, logic of presentation and/or ease of use
• Contribution to the field of knowledge.
• Relationship to the existing collection and to other titles and authors dealing with the same subject
• Availability of the material in the system, in other libraries or in print
• Present and potential relevance to community interests and needs.
• Reader demand
• Value of resource in relation to its cost
• Suitability of format for library use
• Technical characteristics, i.e. quality of paper, typography, binding
• Space considerations
• Suitability of subject and style for intended audience.
• Level of difficulty
• Comprehensiveness and depth of treatment
• The attention of critics and reviewers
• Quality of illustrations
• Literary quality
• Representation of opposing views.
• Professional judgment

SPECIFIC CRITERIA FOR WORKS OF FICTION

• Readability, or ability to sustain interest
• Plot development
• Effective characterization
• Authenticity of setting
• Representation of important movements, genres, trends, or national cultures
• Insight into human and social conditions
• Artistic presentation and experimentation

FORMAT

Adult Braille books are on loan to the General Library from the Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind; as such, they are not listed in the DRA on-line catalog. Access Services personnel in the Adult Readers and Information Services Department maintains a list of the titles currently available.

Also available through Access Services are periodicals in Braille produced by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, and current and back issues of other publications. As is the case of the adult Braille books, Access Services maintains a fist of Braille periodical titles currently available.

Mass market paperbacks, mostly but not exclusively fiction titles, are collected on a popular or recreational level, to supplement the hardbound fiction and nonfiction collections. Such materials may be added to collections as "cataloged" works (i.e., made bibliographically accessible through the computerized circulation system), or as "uncataloged" (i.e., not bibliographically accessible), the decision as to which being left to the local discretion of departmental/branch level staff.

The Library offers fiction and non-fiction in large print formats through collections housed in the General Library's circulating collection, the Brighton, Codman Square, and Dudley Branch Libraries, and the Mobile Library Services Department. Other branch libraries can select rotating deposit collections from their District Branch of from the Genera! Library circulating collection.

Strength in periodicals collections matches subject strengths. Practical, rather than theoretical, science journals are selected. Important journals in non-English languages are selected, particularly in the humanities and the social sciences and the arts and music. Titles in clinical medicine are not selected and only a limited number of legal journals are purchased.

The library subscribes to and preserves newspapers from many Massachusetts cities and towns and subscribes to newspapers from major cities in the United States and around the world.

The Boston Public Library is a regional depository for federal government publications and also collects state, local, city, and United Nations documents. The Library is a United States Patent and Trademark Depository Library.

The Library purchases important collections published in microformat that supplement other research holdings. The Library arranges for microfilming of selected newspapers and also purchases newspapers microfilmed by commercial vendors.

Maps from United States government agencies are received through the federal depository program. Atlases and up to date collections of local, regional and world maps are available in each library with a special collection available in the Research Library.

AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

Music is selected and available in the Genera! Library's Audiovisual Services (AV) Department and in many of the branch Libraries. The AV Department's collection emphasizes classical, popular, jazz, religious and world music.

Language Instruction is selected and available in the General Library's Audiovisual Services (AV) Department and in many of the branch libraries. The collection includes foreign language instruction and English as a Second Language Materials (ESL).

Books on audiotape are selected and available in the General Library's Audiovisual Services (AV) Department and in many of the branch Libraries. The AV Department's collection emphasizes unabridged editions.

Access Services through the Adult Readers and Information Services Department of the General Library offers a collection of Talking Books produces by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). This collection is on loan to the General Library from the Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind; as such, it is not listed in the DRA catalog. Talking Books may circulate only to individuals registered with NLS through the Braille and Talking Book Library, and can be used only on equipment provided by NLS. Access Services provides information to individuals on the procedure for registering for this service. Some branches may also provide this service.

The library still retains a collection of vinyl recordings. !t is no longer actively collecting in this area. This sizable collection is in the 33 1/3 rpm format. Collection scope includes: classical, popular, jazz, children's and world music. We do have limited spoken word recordings. Material was collected during the late 1970's through mid 1980's. We ceased purchasing in this format in 1990.

The video collections concentrate on titles which are not generally available in commercial video stores. The children's collection, for instance, contains titles based on classic and popular children's literature; and the adult collection emphasizes non-fiction documentaries. The Library's central circulating video collection is located in the General Library's Audiovisual Services (AV) Department. As in the case of books on audiotape, branch libraries can draw rotating deposit collections from this central collection. Represented within the collection are videos which offer closed captioning and American Sign Language (ASL interpretation for deaf and hard of hearing people, and descriptive narratives for blind and visually disabled people (DVS videos). Whenever possible video's are purchased with public performance rights. Those video's that cannot be purchased with public performance rights are purchased for home use only.

Music available in CD format is selected and available in the General Library's Audiovisual Services (AV) Department and in many of the branch libraries. The AV Department's collection emphasizes classical, choral works, and shows (movie sound tracks/Broadway productions). Deposit collections can be drawn from this central collection by branch libraries to supplement their own holdings.

The Boston Public Library offers World Wide Web (WWW) access (excluding USENET access) to the Internet and its varied resources. The Library has established Web Home Pages which highlight the Library and its services, and present subject-oriented access points to the Web.

CD-ROMs are acquired as a supplement to print reference collections.

KIDS ON THE BLOCK puppets may be borrowed through Access Services. They are used in sensitizing young children to the needs of children with various types of disabilities.

MATERIALS NOT PURCHASED

Testbooks are considered supplementary materials therefore no attempts are made to purchase comprehensively in this area.

REVIEW SOURCES

Many sources can inform the process of selection. Formal aids could include Publishers weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus. Other aids include broadcast media, popular magazines, personal interests and knowledge. Efforts will be made to examine items prior to purchase and to garner objective viewpoints on the merits of the items. The Library will also make every effort to identify individuals on staff with expertise in different areas to act as resource specialists should the need arise.

LEVELS OF SELECTION:

• POPULAR OR RECREATIONAL LEVEL = provides a beginning overview of a subject; embraces only a few general, nonscholarly works
• BASIC INFORMATION LEVEL = gives general coverage and instruction in a subject, with only a few titles devoted to advanced coverage. Contains a representation of the major titles available.
• STUDY LEVEL = meets extensive range of usage by patrons and includes general introductions and advanced works, especially recent materials. Will include most important works on a subject.
• REFERENCE LEVEL = meets full range of patron use up through original research. Includes all works on a subject. Because of the existence of the Research Library, Community Library Services units have no need to collect at this level, except perhaps in local history.

SELECTION BY SUBJECT is done on an as needed basis through the weekly inspection cycle as new materials are published. Suggestions from the public are considered. The subject Collection Development/Replacement lists and the bibliographies produced by the book list committee are used for selection purposes. Professionally skilled staff may add items for quantity orders to the weekly inspection cycle by using form No. 1835.

SELECTION BY CLIENTELE

The branch libraries have identified the need for the following collections of foreign language materials in order of need by majority: Spanish, French, Russian, Vietnamese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Cambodian, Italian, Creole, Cape Verdean, Chinese, Gaelic, Arabic, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Albanian, Somali, Urdu; Hindi, Laotian, Hebrew, German, Greek (see Appendix). Other clientele include people with disabilities and people with particular learning needs such as English as a Second Language, and Literacy.

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT LISTS/REPLACEMENTS

A committee appointed by the Assistant Director of Community Library Services Division will draw up, replacement lists each year based on areas covered in the last inventory list. These lists pick up standard works and classics which may be missing from collections. The committee will draw up the lists based on suggestions from the General Library and the branches, and from standard bibliographic lists of the best materials still in print. At the start of the budget year, notification will be given to all departments of the subject areas to be covered in the replacement lists for the coming fiscal year.

In addition, special book list committees are appointed on a yearly basis to develop popular interest bibliographies from which ordering can be done. The lists are generated on topics recommended by staff and are published the year after the work is completed. Topics will be announced in June. This will enable librarians to plan their spending more judiciously for the year. Order forms No. 1385 will appear in the Approval Room. (See appendix for current list)

Factors considered in deciding whether or not to replace an item:

• Is the item still in demand?
• Is it considered basic or a classic work in its field?
• is the subject better covered in other works in the collection?
• Is it a duplicate of materials in the collection, arid is duplication still needed?
• Is it a last copy of a work in the whole system?
• Is there enough material on this subject in your own collection?
• Is the item in print at a reasonable cost?

DUPLICATES

Multiple copies of materials are ordered on an as needed basis.

GIFTS

The library accepts donations of materials which will supplement and enhance the existing collections which are used for the recreation and information needs of our patrons and for reference by the Library staff. Donated materials not only strengthen the intellectual focus of collections but may serve as replacement copies for lost or physically deteriorated items.

Donations are accepted with the fore going stipulations in mind:

 

All donations become the property of the Boston Public Library. The library reserves the right to use or dispose of the materials as it determines is appropriate.

 

• Due to internal priorities it is not possible to have individual donations processed within defined periods of time.
• Donors wishing to have an appraisal of their material done for income tax purposes should do so prior to donation. The Library does not perform appraisals.
• Some categories of materials cannot be used by the Library such as textbooks, Readers Digest Condensed gooks and backfiles of periodicals such as National Geographic. Potential donors should consult the Gifts Librarian.
• Materials in poor physical condition cannot be cost effectively added to the Library's collections.
• Donors intending to leave material off at the Circulation Desk in Copley Square should make sure that their name and address is included in each bag/box if they wish to have an acknowledgment.

The Library can arrange for memorial book plates to be placed in items designated by the donor.

Donors with special stipulations in mind should be aware that these will require negotiation through the appropriate administrative channels (Director's Office).

Donors wishing to donate material to a specific branch, department, or collection should contact the Gifts Librarian. The Gifts Librarian will then contact the appropriate supervisor or department head.

Items which are not added into the collection may be sold in the Friends of the Library booksales. This raises funds for the Friends to give to the library.

Potential donors with questions and concerns beyond these guidelines should consult the Gifts Librarian at (617)536-8400 x 2308

COLLECTION MAINTENANCE

Materials are weeded from our collections to make space for current materials; to make the existing collections easier to use; to make the collections more attractive; to reduce the damage to books caused by overcrowding and space limitations.

Items removed can include dated, inaccurate, unused or rarefy used materials, shabby, worn-out or damaged materials, once trendy ephemera, and duplicate material no longer in great demand.

Items generally retained may include works on local history and by local authors, materials that provide a balance to the points of view represented in the collection, and materials listed in standard bibliographies.

Weeded items may be dealt with in several ways. Items of no further use may be discarded, or donated to Library Friends groups for safe to the public. Items of no further use to the specific collection being weeded, but that may have use to other collections within the system, may be offered to other collections. Examples to the latter might include last copies of titles in the system, or items of research value normally sent to the General Library or Research Library. The decision as to which of these options should be chosen with respect to particular weeded items is left to the discretion of staff doing the weeding, acting within the framework of accepted professional practice.

EVALUATION OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

in order to determine the effectiveness of collection development practices in meeting the stated goals of these collection development guidelines, periodic evaluations will be conducted. Such evaluations will focus upon analysis of the library's collection and of the community the library serves.

Analysis of the Collection:

The collection should be analyzed periodically to determine if appropriate collection development emphasis has been placed upon areas of highest public demand, and upon areas which the library has decided to collect independent of demand. Various tools are available to staff to aid in these analysis efforts.

Circulation statistics: Using the NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES PROFILES, staff can access information about holdings and circulation by material type (fiction, non-fiction, etc.). Holdings and circulation information by subject grouping (Library of Congress call numbers) will also be available for review. In addition, the monthly MISSING ITEM REPORTS and the order cancellation lists provided with the monthly ACQUISITIONS SYSTEM STATISTICS report will provide further information.

Reserve statistics: Information about the ratio of reserves to titles owned will be generated via the DRA system and made available to staff.

Reference statistics: Public service staff should keep logs at appropriate intervals to record types of reference questions, success rate of answered vs. unanswered questions, and subjects of materials needed for their- collections. Selectors may review these logs when developing quantity order forms or replacement lists.

Technical Service Statistics: Annual materials counts are provided in the NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES PROFILES. Librarians may keep a manual count of materials ordered by subject.

Budget analysis: Branch Librarians and department heads allocate discretionary 600 funds among age level and/or service areas. In consultation with the Branch Librarian or department head, professional staff may analyze spending patterns by material type and subject area.

Other: Staff will refer as necessary to recognized sources such as standard lists for titles and industry publications for titles as well as current trends.

Analysis of the Community

The community served by the library should be analyzed periodically to determine if changes in the community's makeup might warrant changes in collection development emphasis. Various tools are available to staff to aid in these analysis efforts.

Census data: The NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES PROFILES contain information from the latest U. S. Census of Population, tabulated by branch service area.

Other statistical information: Statistical information collected in other sources may differ considerably from neighborhood to neighborhood. The City of Boston publishes annual statistical information about most city neighborhoods, though these may not correspond exactly to branch service areas. Similarly, individual agencies and organizations may publish useful statistics.

Nonstatistical information: It is the responsibility of appropriate staff to maintain updated information on the community which they serve. This should include but not be limited to information about local government influence, business community use, environmental factors, geographic factors, educational resources in the area, small groups and individual users.

INVENTORY

inventory is done to familiarize the librarian with the collection and its usage patterns. It provides the basis for weeding and replacing materials . The process locates gaps in the collections and indicates what materials circulate the best. 8y doing inventory, staff members are able to determine what materials are actually held on a subject or by an author.

Inventory will be done on the following schedule for Branches and General Library. In support of this activity an inventory printout will be produced annually. It will rotate on a five year plan as follows:

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS are located in the Research Library, known as the McKim building.

BRANCH SERVICE AREA BOUNDARIES

The collections and services of each branch of the Boston Public Library (BPL) are available and accessible to all library users. All branches can be reached conveniently by public transportation, and the library's computerized materials circulation control system allows patrons to request that materials at one location be sent to another to meet specific requirements. Even so, the BPL has found it convenient to establish specific Geographic Service Areas for each branch library.

The branch Service Areas have several uses. They define the target area for branch outreach efforts; such as which schools will be visited by the branch Youth Services Librarians, and which adult education program providers will be contacted by the branch Adult Services Librarian. Also, since it is recognized that each branch library will draw the majority of its patrons from a fixed area around the branch, the branch Service Areas help define the core community served by the branch, thus informing decisions about collection development and service provision.

NETWORKS

The Boston Public Library participates in several NETWORKS and can request materials for library patrons through Interlibrary Loan. Regional collections are accessed through Metro Boston Library Network, and the Boston Library Consortium.

Approval Plan Publishers Profile List

Blanket orders for foreign countries authorize qualified book dealers to select and forward to the Boston Public Library new publications produced in a given language and in specified geographic areas.

A stipulation against duplication of titles which may be published simultaneously is included, as well as the financial dollar ceiling.

All blanket order agreements have a termination clause which can be activated by either party through 30- or 90-day written notices.

Excluded from foreign blanket order agreements are:

• reprints, extracts, separates and translations&emdash;unless specifically included
• periodicals&emdash;unless there is a special arrangement for receiving sample copies
• monographic series and titles&emdash;unless they are self-contained
• multi-volume sets
• textbooks
• do-it-yourself books
• government publications

Foreign blanket orders do not cover the following categories:

• encyclopedias
• religious &endash; inspirational literature
• law publications
• dictionaries of a general nature
• routine juvenile titles
• pedagogical manuals
• exhibition catalogues
• music scores
• local genealogies
• local guidebooks
• sheet maps
• medicine
• calendars and almanacs
• non-book materials

Excerpts from the Boston Public Library Preservation Planning Program:

Background

The Boston Public Library began the Association of Research Libraries Preservation Self-Study in April 1990. The goal of the study was to evaluate existing preservation activities within the library and to make specific recommendations leading to an increase in the role of preservation in the library environment. A Study Team of core staff members was created to coordinate these activities.

Over a two month period the Study Team created a Background Paper to document the institution’s mission, services and existing preservation activities. In consultation with Library Administration a "charge’ was then developed which specified that the Study Team was "to examine the entire scope of preservation activities in the BPL and provide short and long-term goals for Library Administration. These goals will be implemented through the adoption of system-wide policies that in turn will enable the Library to secure funding for preservation efforts. As part of its investigation, the Study Team will be considering all issues relating to preservation." To accomplish this charge, five Task Forces, each chaired by a Study Team member, were created.

The five Task Forces concentrated their research on five different areas of preservation activity within the Library; Organization of Preservation, Physical Condition of Library Materials, Environmental Conditions, Disaster Planning, and Staff and User Education. The Task Forces began their work in October of 1990 and completed it in February of 1991.

Program Goals

• To preserve library materials for future use
• To preserve the collections
• To make preservation efforts cost-effective
• To make preservation a visible and integral part of Library activities
• To help the Library respond to its responsibilities fulfilling multiple roles
• To provide preservation guidelines during the McKim renovation
• To provide minimum preservation standards

Program Components

Human Resource Components

• Designate a position to coordinate all preservation activity throughout the Library.
• Re-organize existing in-house treatment services.
• Appoint a Preservation Committee.
• Develop and implement staff preservation awareness and training programs.
• Uniformly enforce Library policies on food, beverages, smoking and the wearing of ID badges in public and no-public areas.
• Appoint a Disaster Action Team to adopt and maintain a Disaster Plan Manual.
• Evaluate existing security measures as they relate to preservation of library materials.

Environmental Components

• Repair and activate the HVAC system in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Department so it is in continuous operation 24 hours a day.
• Achieve and maintain accepted temperature and relative humidity levels in the Central buildings, Charlestown Service Building, branches and the New England Deposit Library
• Secure archival storage for the transfer and re-housing of preservation microfilm masters.
• Continue and expand environmental monitoring of temperature and relative humidity.
• Evaluate existing HVAC system(s) and perform standard (ASHRAE) air quality tests.
• Add ultra-violet sleeves to all fluorescent lights and ultra-violet filtering film to shield windows and skylights in all areas where library materials are housed or exhibited.
• Promote existing procedures to report vermin and incrase the pest control contract.
• Install disaster prevention/suppression systems in all facilities housing library materials.
• Prioritize and assess library space/collections with consideration of housing/storage requirements.
• Develop, maintain and update long-range system-wide space planning program to provide support for future storage needs.

Collection Components

• Adopt preservation guidelines for the McKim renovation.
• Determine collection priorities with department heads and subject specialists.
• Expand preservation treatment services.
• Expand Conservation Laboratory activities.
• Acquire a basic inventory of supplies to store/house library materials.
• Develop a mending program.
• Coordinate the Library’s Preservation Treatment Services with those of other institutions and groups.
• Develop and implement photocopying guidelines for staff and patrons.

Funding Options

• Work with Associates to develop understanding of need for preservation of Library materials.
• Encourage potential donors of funds to the Library to designate funds for preservation.
• Seek grant funding.
• Begin using a certain percentage of the Library book budget for preservation microfilming, binding, replacements, photocopying, etc.; increase this figure each year until it reaches a particular proportion of the entire book budget.
• Designate a presently undesignated Trust Fund of substantial proportion to be used for preservation purposes.
• Increase charges for microfilming and photographic reproduction and dedicate funds received to preservation.

Code of Ethics of the American Library Association

As members of the American Library Association, we recognize the importance of codifying and making known to the profession and to the general public the ethical principles that guide the work of librarians, other professionals providing information services, library trustees and library staffs.

Ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict. The American Library Association Code of Ethics states the values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of the profession in this changing information environment.

We significantly influence or control the selection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information. In a political system grounded in an informed citizenry, we are members of a profession explicitly committed to intellectual freedom and the freedom of access to information. We have a special obligation to ensure the free flow of information and ideas to present and future generations.

The principles of this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide ethical decision making. These statements provide a framework; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.

 

I. We provide the highest level of service to all library users through appropriate and usefully organized resources; equitable service policies; equitable access; and accurate, unbiased, and courteous responses to all requests.

II. We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.

III. We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.

IV. We recognize and respect intellectual property rights.

V. We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness and good faith, and advocate conditions of employment that safeguard the rights and welfare of all employees of our institutions.

VI. We do not advance private interests at the expense of library users, colleagues, or our employing institutions.

VII. We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional duties and do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair representation of the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their information resources.

VIII. We strive for excellence in the profession by maintaining and enhancing our own knowledge and skills, by encouraging the professional development of co-workers, and by fostering the aspirations of potential members of the profession.

Adopted by the ALA Council

June 28, 1995

The Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

 

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

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.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 18, 1948.
Amended February 2, 1961, and January 23, 1980,
inclusion of "age" reaffirmed January 23, 1996,
by the ALA Council.

The Freedom to Read Statement

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove books from sale, to censor textbooks, to label "controversial" books, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as citizens devoted to the use of books and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating them, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

We are deeply concerned about these attempts at suppression. Most such attempts rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary citizen, by exercising critical judgment, will accept the good and reject the bad. The censors, public and private, assume that they should determine what is good and what is bad for their fellow-citizens.

We trust Americans to recognize propaganda, and to reject it. We do not believe they need the help of censors to assist them in this task. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be "protected" against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

We are aware, of course, that books are not alone in being subjected to efforts at suppression. We are aware that these efforts are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, films, radio and television. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of uneasy change and pervading fear. Especially when so many of our apprehensions are directed against an ideology, the expression of a dissident idea becomes a thing feared in itself, and we tend to move against it as against a hostile deed, with suppression.

And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with stress.

Now as always in our history, books are among our greatest instruments of freedom. They are almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. They are the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. They are essential to the extended discussion which serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures towards conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.

Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept which challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.

2. Publishers, librarians and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation contained in the books they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what books should be published or circulated.

Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.

3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability of a book on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.

A book should be judged as a book. No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish which draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.

4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.

To some, much of modern literature is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters taste differs, and taste cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised which will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.

 5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any book the prejudgment of a label characterizing the book or author as subversive or dangerous.

The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for the citizen. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.

6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.

It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive.

7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.

The freedom to read is of little consequence when expended on the trivial; it is frustrated when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of their freedom and integrity, and the enlargement of their service to society, requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all citizens the fullest of their support.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of books. We do so because we believe that they are good, possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.

Adopted June 25, 1953; revised January 28, 1972, January 16, 1991, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee.