Neutrality and Libraries

Question: What do I do if patrons/students request that I show "both sides of the issue" and try to promote materials that are incorrect, misleading, or hateful?

Answer: Answering this question thoroughly proved to be kind of complicated. Therefore, I divided up my answer into sections, adding helping resources to help explain.

Part 1: Library Bill of Rights (this page, scroll down) 

Part 2: Library Collection Policies

Part 3: Should Libraries be Neutral?

Part 4: Intellectual Freedom vs. Hate Speech

Part 5: Patrons and Their Opinions

Part 6: LGBTQ+ Right to Read 

 Part 1: Library Bill of Rights

Question: Aren’t libraries “the last bastion of true democracy?” Seriously, though, aren’t libraries required to support freedom of speech?

Answer: Yes, libraries are required to support freedom of speech--this is very clearly spelled out in the Library Bill of Rights and reaffirmed in The Freedom to Read Statement.

Library Bill of Rights and
Freedom to Read Statement

Resource: American Library Association (2019). Library Bill of Rights. 

What the resource says (100 words or fewer): First written 1939 (and last updated in 2019), the Library Bill of Rights consists of seven policies which public libraries are required to follow

1.  Library materials should serve all people of the community
2. Materials should present all points of view on issues
3. Libraries should challenge censorship
4. . . . And work with those who also challenge censorship
5. No patrons can be denied usage of the library based on their ages, backgrounds, or views
6. Library meeting spaces should be available to the public on an equitable basis (if you let one group meet, you must let them all) 

Memorable quote from the resource: “Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy.”

American Library Association Logo

Resource: American Library Association & Association of American Publishers (2004). Freedom to Read Statement. 

What the resource says (100 words or fewer): The Freedom to Read Statement was first written in 1953 and most recently amended in 2004. The statement asserts that “the freedom to read is essential” to democracy and that most people, will select “good” reading materials and “recognize propaganda and misinformation.” Also stressed are the importance of diverse materials (including those unpopular and dangerous by the public) to enrich and educate patrons. Political beliefs or personal lives of authors should be not be disqualifying factors when choosing library materials. Finally (and importantly), the statement declares that librarians do not have to “endorse every idea or presentation they make available.”

Memorable quote from the resource: “It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.”

Click here for Part 2: Library Collection Policies