Well in advance of the appearance of the censor, a materials selection program, a procedure for handling complaints, and a public relations program will, of course, have been established. After the censor comes, censorship of library materials can be resisted by informing a number of key support sources: (1) community leaders and community organizations who would support the position of the library, (2) local news media whose editorial support would be valuable, (3) other librarians in the community and state whose support could then be available if needed, (4) the publisher of the challenged work who may have on file all its reviews and also may be interested in the legal questions raised by such practices as labeling and restricted access, (5) all library staff members and the governing board, (6) library's legal counsel, (7) the state library association's intellectual freedom committee, and (8) ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Censorship and Challenges
“Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek 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.” — Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A
"Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us." --Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, " The One Un-American Act ." Nieman Reports , vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan. 1953): p. 20.
“First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.”—Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Ashcroft V. Free Speech Coalition (00-795) 198 F.3d 1083, affirmed.
“Most attempts at suppression 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.”— The Freedom to Read Statement
| Links to Information on the First Amendment and Intellectual Freedom, and Additional Information on Censorship and Challenges | ALA Policies and Statements on the Freedom to Read |
Links to Information on the First Amendment and Intellectual Freedom, and Additional Information on Censorship and Challenges
A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, thereby restricting the access of others.
Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q&A
First Amendment Basics
International Intellectual Freedom Basics
American Library Basics
International Library Basics
Censorship Basics
Basics
News Sources for Information about Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, and the First Amendment
Contacting Elected Officials about Issues/Legislation Related to Intellectual Freedom
Coalitions Against Censorship
First Amendment Advocates
First Amendment Resources
Intellectual Freedom Issues
ALA Policies and Statements on the Freedom to Read
Library Bill of Rights
Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights
Libraries: An American Value
Other ALA Policies, Procedures, Resolutions, and Guidelines Protecting the Freedom to Read
ALA Intellectual Freedom Policies and the First Amendment
The Freedom to Read Statement
Protecting the Freedom to Read
Links to non-ALA sites have been provided because these sites may have information of interest. Neither the American Library Association nor the Office for Intellectual Freedom necessarily endorses the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites; and furthermore, ALA and OIF do not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.