American Library Association (ALA) TH E FREED OM TO R EA D The fr eedom t o r ead i s essenti al t o our democr acy. I t i s conti nuousl y under att ack. Pr i vat e gr oups and publ i c aut hor i ti es i n various par t s of t he countr y ar e wor ki ng t o r emove or l i mi t access t o r eadi ng mat er i al s, t o censor content i n schools, t o l abel “cont r oversi al” vi ews, t o di st ri bute l ists of “obj ectionabl e” books or author s, and t o pur ge li br ar ies. These act i ons appar ent l y ri se fr om a vi ew t hat our nat i onal t r adi t i on of fr ee expr ession i s no l onger vali d; t hat censor ship and suppr essi on are needed t o count er t hr eat s t o safet y or nat i onal secur it y, as wel l as t o avoi d t he subver si on of pol i ti cs and t he corr uption of mor al s. We, as i ndi vi dual s devoted t o r eadi ng and as l i br ari ans and publ i sher s r esponsibl e for di ssemi nat i ng i deas, wi sh t o asser t t he publ i c i nt er est i n t he preser vat i on of t he fr eedom t o r ead. M ost att empt s at suppr essi on r est on a deni al of t he funda ment al pr emi se of de mocr acy: t hat t he or di nar y i ndi vi dual , by exer ci si ng cr it i cal j udgment , wi l l sel ect t he good and r eject t he bad. We t r ust Amer icans t o r ecognize propaganda and mi si nfor mat i on, and t o make t hei r own deci si ons about what t hey r ead and bel i eve. We do not beli eve t hey ar e pr epared t o sacr i fice t hei r heri tage of a fr ee pr ess i n or der t o be “pr ot ect ed” agai nst what ot her s t hi nk may be bad for t hem. W e bel ieve t hey st i ll favor fr ee ent er pr ise i n i deas and expr essi on. These effor t s at suppressi on ar e r elated t o a lar ger patt er n of pr essures bei ng br ought agai nst educat i on, t he pr ess, art and i mages, fi l ms, br oadcast medi a, and t he I nt ernet . The pr obl em i s not onl y one of act ual censor shi p. The shadow of fear cast by t hese pressur es l eads, we suspect , t o an even l ar ger vol unt ar y cur t ai l ment of expr essi on by t hose who seek t o avoi d contr over sy or unwel come scr uti ny by govern ment offi ci al s. Such pr essur e t owar d confor mi t y i s per haps nat ur al t o a ti me of accel erat ed change. And yet suppressi on i s never mor e danger ous t han i n such a t i me of so ci al t ensi on. Fr eedom ha s gi ven t he Uni t ed St at es t he el ast i ci t y t o endur e str ain. Fr eedom keeps open the pat h of novel and cr eat i ve sol uti ons, and enabl es change t o come by choi ce. Ever y sil enci ng of a her esy, ever y enfor cement of an or t hodoxy, di mi ni shes t he t oughness and r esi li ence of our soci et y and l eaves it t he l ess abl e t o deal wi t h cont rover sy and di ffer ence. Now as al ways i n our hist or y, readi ng i s among our gr eat est fr eedoms. T he fr eedom t o r ead and wr i t e i s al most t he onl y means f or maki ng gener al l y avai l abl e i deas or manner s of expr essi on t hat can i ni t ial l y command o nl y a smal l audi ence. The wr i tt en wor d i s t he natur al medi um for t he new i dea and t he unt r ied voi ce fr om whi ch come t he ori gi nal cont ri but i ons t o social growt h. I t i s essent ial t o t he ext ended di scussi on that seri ous thought r equir es, and t o the accumul at i on of knowl edge and i deas i nt o or gani zed col l ect i ons. We bel i eve that fr ee communi cat i on is essenti al t o t he pr eser vat i on of a fr ee soci et y and a cr eat i ve cul t ur e. We bel i eve that t hese pr essur es t oward confor mi t y pr esent t he danger of l imi t i ng t he r ange and variet y of i nqui r y and expr essi on on whi ch our democr acy and our cult ur e depend. We bel i eve that ever y Amer i can communi t y must j eal ousl y guar d t he fr eedom t o p ubl i sh and to ci r cul ate, in or der t o preser ve i t s own fr eedom t o r ead. We bel i eve t hat publ i sher s and l ibr ar ians have a pr ofound 1 r esponsi bi lit y t o gi ve val i dit y t o t hat fr eedo m t o r ead by maki ng i t possi bl e for t he r eader s to choose fr eel y fr om a v ar i et y of off er i ngs. The fr eedom t o r ead i s guar anteed by t he Consti t uti on. Those wi t h fai t h in fr ee people wi l l st and fi r m on t hese const itut i onal guarant ees of essent i al ri ght s and wi l l exer ci se t he r esponsi bi li ti es t hat accomp any t hese ri ghts. We t her efore affi r m t hes e pr oposit i ons: 1. I t i s i n t he publ i c i nt erest f or publi shers and l i brari ans t o make avail abl e t he wi dest diversit y of vi ews and expressions, i ncl uding t hose t hat are unort hodox, unpopul ar, or consi dered dangerous by t he maj ori t y. Cr eat i ve t hought i s by defi ni t i on new, and what i s new i s di ffer ent . The bear er of ever y new t hought i s a r ebel unt il t hat i dea is refi ned and test ed. Total it ari an syst ems at t e mpt t o mai nt ai n themsel ves i n power by t he r ut hl ess suppr essi on of any concept t hat chal lenges t he est abl i shed or t hodoxy. The power of a democr at i c syst em t o adapt t o change is vast l y st rengt hened by t he fr eedom of i t s cit i zens t o choose widel y fr om a mong confl i ct i ng opi ni ons offer ed fr eel y t o t hem. To st i fl e ever y nonconfor mi st i dea at bir t h woul d mar k t he end of t he demo cr ati c pr ocess. Fur t her mor e, onl y t hr ough t he const ant act i vi t y of wei ghi ng and sel ect i ng can t he democr ati c mi nd at t ai n t he str engt h deman ded by t i mes l i ke t hese. We need t o know not onl y what we bel ieve but why we bel i eve it . 2. Publ i shers, li brari ans, and booksell ers do not need t o endorse every i dea or present ati on t hey make avai l abl e.