1. Di Zhang
LIS 551
3 June 2012
What Intellectual Freedom Means to A Future Librarian
What is IF?
In my first assignment, I named three aspects that I thought were key to
Intellectual Freedom: access to wide variety of opinions (points of view), access to
information without restrictions, and freedom from scrutiny of information
behaviors or content (privacy). I still consider these to be core principles that make
up intellectual freedom, although I have become more informed about the contexts
and cases in which these principles play out in the real world. In this essay, I reflect
on what I have learned in this course and how I intend to support intellectual
freedom as a future librarian.
Why is IF important?
The public library is actually an agency of the United States government that
is responsible for providing free and open access to information. As a public library
employee, I represent the government and I must defend the rights of individuals to
access information representing a variety of viewpoints in all formats, including
books, audio and video recordings, digital media, websites, etc. The reason why IF is
the government’s concern is because the freedom of every individual to seek and
receive ideas and information from any and all points of view without scrutiny1is
essential to a free democratic society. In a democratic society, free and open access
1 This is the definition of intellectual freedom that I am currently working with.

2. to information affords people the resources for participation in self-education and
self-government (i.e. the political process).The First Amendment protects
intellectual freedom via “freedom of speech.” In order to be truly free in speech,
there must be an unhindered ability to reach an audience, namely the public. This
requires free and open access to information. Thus, the public library should thus
content neutral and defend an individual’s right to access to all kinds of information.
However, “free and open” does not mean total or unrestricted. Although the
library should protect the first amendment rights of users, it must also follow the
rest of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, relevant state constitutions, and court
interpretations. For example, court decisions (Kreimer v. Bureau of Police for the
town of Morristown) have designated public libraries as a “limited public forum.”2
People may use this public forum to exercise their First Amendment rights without
government interference with the content of that speech. However, the public forum
is limited in the sense that the government may impose reasonable “time, place, and
manner” restrictions on speech. This translates to the library’s right to impose
reasonable “time, place and manner” limitations on access to library resources,
services and facilities. As a library staff member, I must be careful to adopt policies
and procedures that are content neutral, serve an important government interest,
are applied objectively and consistently, and do not create barrier to the first
amendment right to freedom of access to information. At the same time, disruptive
behavior by an individual or a group which infringes on the rights of others may
2Public record can be accessed at: http://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/kreimer1.htm

3. warrant restriction of access to library resources, services and facilities to that
individual or group.
My Professional Position(s)
I am fortunate to work for Seattle Public Library, an organization that has
never removed a challenged book from the shelve for reasons related to content. I
might not be so lucky if I were to work in another library system. Ultimately,
libraries are a community and are supposed to reflect community standards. Most
definitions of obscenity and pornography refer to the idea of ‘community standards,’
which are not universal but are necessarily from a specific community. For example,
many library systems choose to have filters installed on their computers; in fact,
they can request federal funds to have this done. As an employee of a library system,
I have a duty to abide by the policies of my particular library. That being the case, I
intend to consistently defend the right to free and open access information in
whatever capacity I can while still being attentive and understanding to those who
challenge library policies. If possible, I will advocate for free and open access to
information in places and at times where First Amendment rights are being
challenged, even if my own institution is doing the challenging. As a member of the
ALA, I will be able fortunate enough to be part of a large organization that is
committed to IF and supporting defenders of IF. For example, I can request
professional,legal, personal, and financial assistance from several organizations that
support IF, such as the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.

4. Why training is important
As I move forward, I hope to learn more about intellectual freedom and
eventually be able to conduct workshops on IF. It’s important to train all staff
members within library systems because it ensures that everyone has a common
understanding of intellectual freedom and knows how to apply the library’s IF
policies. Training should also cover skills needed to respond to patron challenges of
these policies.
Grey areas
Even if I am generally committed to IF as I have defined it, there are still
problematic cases in which access to certain types of information might be rightfully
restricted. That is, defending access to everything is not necessarily ethical. We need
to consider the ethics of using books/data created from unethical research, for
example Nazi medical research or theft of American Indians records [which belongs
to a sovereign AI nation, not the United States] or other oppressed groups or data
obtained through other unethical means. I do not have a clear-cut philosophical
stance on this dilemma, but I recognize that there are many specific cases that
require librarians to consider and try to honor multiple perspectives and belief
systems. I believe that this class has given me a framework to approach IF cases
with a better understanding of IF principles, the history of censorship, and
competing interests in various kinds of cases, even if there are not always clear-cut
answers to every case.