The Springfield-Greene County Library Board of Trustees recently approved the Library’s Intellectual Freedom Statement. What is intellectual freedom? It is your right to choose what you read, watch or listen to. It means you and your family can seek any information or ideas you want without anyone stopping you. This freedom allows every person to make choices based on what they believe is right for them.
Why does the Library need an intellectual freedom statement? It is a declaration that the library serves the entire community by providing access to information and ideas without censorship while respecting each individual's right to choose what is appropriate for themselves and their families, even when some materials or perspectives might be
controversial.
The Library stands against censorship. We are here to support your basic right to think and speak freely. So, what does this look like day-to-day? Here are the details of the policy as it relates to our collection.
- Everyone has an equal chance to use the materials in our Library.
- The Library believes that choosing materials is a private matter for each person. While you are free to dislike books or materials, you cannot take away that choice from others.
- Parents and guardians are entirely responsible for the reading or viewing choices their children make. Our staff is always ready to help parents find fun, age-appropriate books and other materials for their children.
- Our collection grows and changes over time. We choose materials to show many different points of view — even political, social or religious ideas that some may not agree with. We know that not every item will be liked by every person.
- When the Library chooses items, it does not mean our staff members agree with the message or the opinions inside them.
- We use labels on shelves and materials to help you find collections (like "Mystery" or "Young Adult"), but we do not use those labels to stop anyone from accessing materials or to show that staff members agree with the content.
- We do not hide or lock away any materials unless it is to protect them from being damaged or stolen.
This is just a sample of the information contained in the policy. We hope you will visit thelibrary.org/freedom to see the entire policy. Questions, please reach out, and we can meet to discuss this further.
Ed Walton is the executive director of the Springfield-Greene County Library District. He can be reached at ewalton@thelibrary.org.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield-Greene County Library adopts Intellectual Freedom Policy
