Check it out
by PAM NELSON
Freedom of Information Day is celebrated by the American Library Association on March 16, the birthday of James Madison, a strong advocate for open government who served as fourth President of the United States. While most patrons don’t observe libraries when they are defending against attempts to remove books from libraries, librarians work tirelessly to ensure free and equal access to information, an aspect of the profession easy to overlook because it’s usually work that goes on in the background.
Buda Public Library’s policies (set out in full at www.budalibrary.org) includes a Statement of Intellectual Freedom, incorporating the ALA’s Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read statement, which provides in part: “The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. ...It is the responsibility of publishers and libraries, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large, and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to information.”
Based on that philosophy, the Buda Public Library is opposed to the withdrawal at the request of any individual or group, of books and other materials which have been chosen in accordance with principles outlined in the library selection policy, as well as the inclusion of books and other materials, which do not follow the selection policy. So if your children have enjoyed reading the “Harry Potter” series, among other books groups have sought to ban, thank your librarian for saying “no” to censorship.
