Formerly titled “Importance of Education to Intellectual Freedom—An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.”
During the 2008 Midwinter Meeting the IFC discussed several emerging topics. One of these was the relationship of education, libraries, and intellectual freedom. There was a growing belief that as the amount of information available via the Internet continued to grow, the importance of libraries as a source of information would decrease. However, the availability of a marketplace of ideas in and of itself does not ensure that individuals will be able to find the information and resources they want or need. The ability not only to locate, but also to evaluate and use information effectively is essential for sound personal decision making. It is also crucial for the future of our democratic government and society.
The American Library Association has a long history of advocating for the importance of information literacy. For example, in 1989 the final report of the Presidential Committee on Information Literacy stated:
No other change in American society has offered greater challenges than the emergence of the Information Age. Information is expanding at an unprecedented rate, and enormously rapid strides are being made in the technology for storing, organizing, and accessing the ever growing tidal wave of information. The combined effect of these factors is an increasingly fragmented information base—large components of which are only available to people with money and/or acceptable institutional affiliations….
How our country deals with the realities of the Information Age will have enormous impact on our democratic way of life and on our nation’s ability to compete internationally.1
The text of the interpretation is published in the Intellectual Freedom Manual, ninth edition (2015), part II, chapter 6, and on the ALA website.
During the 2008–9 review of interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights all relevant policies were examined in relationship to this issue. The committee decided to develop a new interpretation that would emphasize the role of all types of libraries in providing both physical and intellectual access to resources and information in support of intellectual freedom. “Importance of Education to Intellectual Freedom” was adopted by the ALA Council at the 2009 Annual Conference.
During its 2013–2014 review of ALA intellectual freedom policy statements, the Intellectual Freedom Committee proposed a new title for the interpretation (“Advocating for Intellectual Freedom”), rearranged several paragraphs so that general principles articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights appear earlier in the document, and added language about the importance of educating library staff about the importance of intellectual freedom. These changes were approved by the ALA Council on July 1, 2014.
1. Association of College and Research Libraries, “Presidential Committee on Information Literacy: Final Report,” www.ala.org/acrl/publications/whitepapers/presidential.