The Odell Public Library welcomes very limited donations (up to 5 items) of books and materials for our collection or for resale. Donated items we cannot use will be put in our resale area or passed on to Discovery Books. Please bring any donations into the library – do not leave them in our book return.

We reserve the right to refuse certain items that will not fit into our collection. Those items are:

• • Books or AV materials over 20 years old unless they have local or historical significance
  • Items that are dirty, musty, mildewed or in otherwise poor condition
  • Encyclopedias of any kind, or on any subject
  • Textbooks or medical books of any kind
  • Reader’s Digest Condensed books, regardless of the publication date
  • Workbooks or books with highlighting or other permanent markings
  • Items oriented toward business or academic use
  • Paperback books with torn or missing covers
  • Videocassettes
  • Magazines older than one year
  • Books on cassette
  • Music CDs not in the original case
  • X-rated materials
  • Any stationary items

In addition, the Director will review donations to ensure they will meet the needs of our library and fit into our collection development policy guidelines. We also reserve the right to weed donated items as needed.

Clerks and staff may not assign a value to donations, but can offer a receipt including the date, name of the donor and number/type of items donated.

Book plates will be included in materials donated for a special purpose only as approved by the Director and/or Board. Due to the numerous items we receive, we cannot send letters of appreciation except under special circumstances. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

CIRCULATION POLICIES

A. LIBRARY CARDS
Most services of the Odell Public Library are available free of charge to all Odell residents within the district’s boundaries. Application for a library card requires proof of identification and proof of residency. Children under 16 must have written consent of a parent or a guardian in order to obtain a library card. This adult assumes full responsibility for the return or payment of lost or damaged books or other materials. Patrons must have a library card to withdraw materials from the library. This card is not transferable to others; patrons are responsible for all loans charged to the card.

The director reserves the right by board of trustees directive to refuse or suspend service to any person who refuses to comply with library policies, who has continued unpaid fines or other known misuse of library privileges. There are no extensions to the expiration date of a library card.

Registration Requirements – The OPLD is a tax-supported library; residents within the jurisdictional boundaries of the OPLD pay taxes to support the library. Those people who live within the jurisdictional boundaries of the district or those who own property within the boundaries need pay no additional fee to be eligible to receive a library card. Library cards are renewed every three years without additional fees, provided the library cardholder continues to reside within the jurisdictional boundaries of the Odell Public Library District and is a patron in good standing. There is a fee of $2.00 to replace damaged, destroyed, lost or stolen library cards.

Adults wishing to register for a library card, renew an expired card or replace a lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed card at the OPLD must bring in with them two forms of identification, at least one of which bears their name and address. These forms of identification include, but are not limited to, driver’s license, utility bills, mail or voter’s registration card.

As a resident cardholder, the borrower identified on the valid borrower’s card may use the library card at another library to borrow material. Those materials are the responsibility of the individual who borrows them, and are subject to all fines, rules and regulations of the lending library. Often libraries limit the borrowing privileges of reciprocal borrowers, so it is best to know the local rules and procedures before making your selection.

Reciprocal Borrower’s – the Odell Public Library will honor borrowing privileges of non-residents who hold a valid library card from any R.A.I.L.S library. Reciprocal cardholders are entitled to the same privileges as Odell Library cardholders.

NON RESIDENT LIBRARY CARDS – Individuals residing beyond the jurisdictional boundaries of the Odell Public Library District who are not within the boundaries of another public library, and owning no property within the jurisdictional boundaries of the OPLD, may purchase a non-resident fee based card at a price set annually the the Board of trustees and posted at the library. The cost is per family and they may qualify if our library is the closest public library to their place of residence (using Odell Grade School district as the initial boundary or the Odell Fire District boundaries) This fee entitles the family to use the Odell Public Library as well as libraries that participate in the non-resident reciprocal borrowing program.

The OPLD determines the fee by using the general mathematical formula as set by the Illinois State Library. To determine the minimum non-resident fee, a local library should divide the library income from local property tax sources or its equivalent, by the population served to determine the cost of service per capita. The libary should multiply the per capita figure by the average number of persons per household in the community, to obtain the average cost per household on which to base a fee for a family card. The most recent federal census information available shall be used in determining population and household size.

[Example: tax rate .240788 x equalized valuation 24,995,799.00 divided by population served 1404 x 2.5 average household $107.17]

The non-resident fee shall not apply to a non-resident who, as an individual or as a partner, principal stockholder, or other joint owner, owns taxable property, provided that the privileges and use of the library is extended to only one such non-resident for each parcel of taxable property. The library card shall accord the non-resident property owner cardholder all the services the public library provides its residents, including reciprocal borrowing privileges.

B. SCHEDULE OF LOAN PERIODS
The normal loan period for materials owned by the OPLD are: Books & audio books for a period of two weeks. DVD and CDs, 5 per patron for a period of one week. Materials borrowed from other sources have various loan periods and some may have charges attached. New patrons may have restrictions on the number of checkouts initially.

Library materials may be renewed by phone, email or by coming into the library. If there are reserves a renewal period may not be available.

C. CIRCULATION REGULATIONS
OVERDUE MATERIALS – A fine of 25 cents per day per item is charged for books and audio’s and 50 cents per day per item for DVDs and CDs. Patrons who are consistently late in returning materials may be subject to limitations of their library privileges.

Patrons are expected to pay for lost or damaged materisl. Persons who remove materials from the library without a card or without using proper loan procedures are subject to prosecution.

RESERVES – Books and other materials which are not available when requested by the borrower, may be reserved in person, by phone or via email.

D. REPLACEMENT COSTS
LIBRARY MATERIALS – Fine are chaged at 25 cents per day for books and audio books and 50 cents per day for DVDs and CDs up to the price of the book. Thereafter, the price of the material is levied on all lost or long overdue items. A patron cannot expect reimbursement of monies if a lost item is found, since the library has been without use of said item and employee’s time and the library’s notification expenses must be met.

LIBRARY CARD – The cost for replacement of a lost, stolen or damaged library card is $2.00.

Additional Circulation notes will be added as RAILS implements them.

SCHEDULE OF LOAN PERIODS

The normal loan period for materials owned by the OPLD are: Books & audio’s for a period of two weeks. DVD and CD’s 5 per patron for a period of one week. Materials borrowed from other sources have various loan periods and some may have charges attached.

Library materials may be renewed by phone, email or by coming into the library. If there are reserves a renewal period may not be available.

Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS)
The Odell Public Library is committed to participating in interlibrary loan programs. We participate as a lender and a borrower. Interlibrary loan does not relieve a local library from the responsibility to develop its own collection, but does serve as a means to overcome the information limits inherent on a small library collection.

– The OPLD will be an active participant in the RAILS, Illinet, OCLC/FirstSearch and Resource Sharing Alliance (RSA) and abide by RAILS standards for interlibrary loans.
– The OPLD will make its resources available to patrons needing them through inter and intra system loans within RAILS and will offer its patrons all services provided by RAILS. The staff will participate in RAILS meetings and trains as resources and time permits.
– THE OPLD will seek to cooperate with any library in-service trainings and programs for the mutual benefit of those participating. Proper legal safeguards and contracts will be required where needed. All cooperatives will be subject to approval by the Board of Trustees and periodic review.
Currently RAILS has not completed their manual and policy updates, we will continue to use the former Alliance Library System information until we receive updated RAILS information.

Photograph & Filming

Odell District Library reserves the right to utilize photographs or video/audio recordings
taken at the library for publicity purposes. All persons attending library programs and activities
or using library facilities thereby agree to such use, which includes social media, websites,
brochures, fliers, and other publications, without additional prior notice or permission and
without compensation to the participant, unless they specifically inform staff of an objection to
such use. For safety and privacy purposes, full names will not be used in conjunction with any
promotional materials. Other organizations (news, community groups, social media, or blogs)
that wish to photograph or record in the library must get consent of staff and those being
photographed/recorded, or a caregiver in the case of a minor child. It is then the decision of that
individual to give permission to use their name or identifying characteristics

LIBRARY MATERIALS – Fine are charged at 25 cents per day for books and audio’s and 50 cents per day for DVDs and CDs up to the price of the book. Thereafter, the price of the material is levied on all lost or long overdue items. A patron cannot expect reimbursement of monies if a lost item is found, since the library has been without use of said item and employee’s time and the library’s notification expenses must be met.

LIBRARY CARD – The cost for replacement of a lost, stolen or damaged library card is $2.00.

Additional Circulation notes will be added as RAILS implements them.

OPLD supports the right of all library patrons to access information and will not deny access to electronic information networks based only on age. The library recognizes that the electronic information network or internet may contain material in appropriate for children. Parents are expected to monitor children’s use at the library.

Children under 16 years of age who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian must have a signed registration and user agreement signed at the library by their parent or guardian. The OPLD follows the standards set by the ALA and is putting filters in place on Internet access computers.

SERVICE POLICY

A. REFERENCE SERVICES
Reference service and access to the reference collection are available to all library patrons regardless of age, residency or purpose of inquiry.

Homework/School Assignments
Homework is intended to be a learning experience for the student. The help provided is dependent on the nature and purpose of the assignment, the difficulty of the search and the age sophistication of the student. As appropriate, staff will assist students to find sources, instruct them in use of the sources and assist in the search if necessary.

Home Schoolers
Home schooled students are encouraged to use the library as a resource, to have access to our computer services and to request materials which will assist them in learning. Special arrangements for computer use time may be made with the clerk on duty as needed.

B. TELEPHONE USE
A telephone line is provided for library business. Personal calls should be kept at a minimum. No personal long distance calls should be made without permission of the Director.

Telephone Requests
A maximum of three books, newspaper or magazine articles per phone call will be checked for availability, when a caller can provide information so that the item may be checked quickly. If a caller cannot provide adequate information, staff will encourage the caller to come to the library and receive assistance in locating the items desired. Reference staff will not read lengthy lists or long passages of statistics, technical, medical or legal information to the caller. Staff will request that the caller visit the library personally to see or make copies of information which will ensure the correct information is copied.

Homework via telephone
If a homework or school assignment can be answered quickly, clerks will be able to assist via the telephone. If extensive search is required, the student will be encouraged to visit the library, where further assistance can be offered.

C. PATRON CONDUCT
If a patron is creating a disturbance or causing problems, the library staff has the authority to tell the patron to leave the library. If the patron refuses to comply and continues to cause problems, the police may then be contacted to remove the patron from the library.

Unattended Children
Parents need to be aware of when their children are using the library. Staff are not expected to stay late and wait for children to be picked up, nor are they responsible for transporting them.

Children must not be left in the library without supervision, if they are not old enough to come to the library on their own. The staff person on duty is not responsible for discharging parental authority of “keeping an eye” on children who are present without a parent or guardian. Children are expected to behave inside the library and the staff on duty has a right to enforce this rule. If children are left unattended and not picked up by the library closing time, the staff person shall – try to contact the parent, guardian or close relative to explain the situation. Parents are encouraged to leave home and cell phone numbers on file or any other reliable way to be contacted in case of an emergency situation.

D. DISABLED PATRONS
OPLD wants to be sure all our patrons can benefit from using the library. All reasonable effort will be made to be sure library services are fully available to any patrons with temporary or long term disabilities. The OPLD offers the same services to patrons with disabilities as they do to all other patrons. In addition to those regular services, the OPLD acts as a facilitator between the patron and outside services for those who are blind and/or have a physical handicap. OPLD offers home delivery to anyone with a disability that prevents them from coming to the library and always welcomes service animals who are assisting patrons.

E. PROGRAMS & SERVICES
STORY HOUR – OPLD provides story hour at the library for children in pre-school and kindergarten in conjunction with St. Paul and Odell Grade Schools. Story Hour is open to home school children as well and times and dates will be arranged in partnership with the staff at the Grade School. The Director is responsible for arranging and conducting story hour. Additional story hour times can be requested by patrons and should be discussed with the Library Director.

SUMMER READING PROGRAM
The OPLD will provide a summer reading program for children, with the format of the program usually based on the Illinois Library Association materials which form a statewide theme each year. The program will be developed with the goal of stimulating reading and learning for the children participating in the program. Incentives and special programs will be provided within budget constraints.

BOOK CHATS
An informal meeting of patrons and staff to showcase new and/or classic books which are in our collection as well as a discussion of current reading among those present and their recommendations of reading materials. The meeting times and dates will be set by the group and based on patron interests. (lack of interest, suspended this service)

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT & OTHER PROGRAMS
Family movies will be offered as free programs as time allows with notices posted to inform patrons of the activity offered. Programs for adults and children will be offered as budgets allow. Ideas for programs from patrons are welcomed and should be directed to the Director.

PHOTOCOPIES
OPLD provides photocopy services within copyright guidelines for library patrons. The cost per copy is currently 20 cents a page. OPLD does provide fax services. Please see Technical Services for additional information concerning computers and copies.

INTERNET ACCESS
OPLD supports the right of all library patrons to access information and will not deny access to electronic information networks based only on age. The library recognizes that the electronic information network or internet may contain material inappropriate for children. Parents are expected to monitor children’s use at the library. Children under 16 years of age who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian must have a signed registration and user agreement signed at the library by their parent or guardian. The OPLD follows the standards set by the ALA and uses Deep Freeze to protect the privacy of our patrons. Please see the Odell Internet & Technology Policies for additional information.

G. MEMORIALS/GIFTS/DONATIONS POLICY
Memorial books or DVDs may selected by the giver or the Director based on suitability and needs of the community. Monetary gifts for memorials will be maintained as a separate line item in the corporate account. Monetary gifts given as memorials in the amount of $10.00 or less may be placed in the library remodeling fund account (savings account) A patron may donate a suitable book of their own choosing. All memorial books are labeled with a bookplate. The honoree family is notified of the memorial and a card of thanks is also sent to the donor. Memorials are recorded in our memorial book and periodically will be published on our website and in the local newspaper.

Monetary gifts made directly to the library which are not specified as memorials will be used for library needs.

Donations of newer books and materials will be accepted by the library and there is a donation guideline attachment which will familiarize patrons with our policy on accepting donated materials. Also attached is a Prohibited Gifts Policy and State Gift Ban Act.

H. PATRON COMPLAINTS
All complaints regarding the presence or absence of any library materials will be referred to the Director who will discuss the matter with the patron. If this does not satisfy the patron they may then state their objections in written form, the library has a form for this purpose. After the form is filled out and returned to the Director the complaint and the materials in questions will be brought before the trustees at their next regular meeting. After consideration the patron will receive a reply within thirty days of the meeting. Materials objected to will remain in the active collection unless and until otherwise decided by the trustees.

Any other complaints can be referred to the Director who will discuss the matter with the person making the complaint. The Director will take the action she feels is appropriate and if it does not satisfy the patron, they may request it be turned over to the trustees to be reviewed at their next regular meeting.

I. PUBLIC RELATIONS & PUBLICITY
Public relations refer primarily to the communication of a positive image, starting with the first impression people have when they walk in the door of the library. Staff and trustees contribute to this image and our library has an active, ongoing and planned approach to create a positive image.

Publicity refers to the means used to increase awareness of the library and it’s services.
– Cooperate with R.A.I.L.S. to provide in service training on public relations and public service attitudes for staff and trustees.
– The director shall be given primary responsibility for coordinating public relations.
– A budget shall be established for publicity and other activities.
– When library policies are reviewed, they should be evaluated for their effect on the library’s relations with the public.
– A varied approach to publicity shall be used including local newspapers, radio, posters, flyers, bookmarks, interaction with community organizations, exhibits and display bulletin boards.
– Our display case will feature seasonal and patron oriented collections, which will be changed on a rotating basis.
– The trustees can assess the image of the library by holding an annual walk-through of the building at their discretion.

Selection of Materials

In accordance with the recommendations of “Serving Our Public: Standards for Illinois Public Libraries”, the OPLD will maintain the goal of allocating at least 12% of its operating budget for the purchase of materials each year. These materials will include a variety of formats, including, but not limited to: print, DVD, audio and electronic media.
The OPLD endeavors to maintain a collection of representative materials with permanent value, diversity and/or current interest. Some materials may be acquired to satisfy the informational, cultural or educational interests of the community; others for artistic merit. Staff consults reviews from professional journals, book lists by recognized authorities, best seller compilations, trade journals and requests from patrons and staff.

The authority and responsibility for the selection of library materials belongs to the Library Director and qualified staff members who might be asked to assist with this activity. Employees may not be disciplined or dismissed for the selection of library materials when the selection is made in good faith and in accordance with this written policy pursuant to Illinois Library Law.

Collection Maintenance

The OPLD will strive to keep the collection vital and useful by retaining or replacing essential materials and by removing those works that are worn, outdated, of little historical significance or no longer in demand. Materials which are removed from the library collection may be made available for public to purchase or donated for repurpose use. Donations to the library are addressed in a separate policy.

Because of space limitations the OPLD cannot become a library of historical record. The continuous review of library materials is necessary as a means of maintaining an active library collection of current interest and value to its patrons. Items may be withdrawn due to:
• Low usage/checkouts
• Outdated or inaccurate information
• Physical condition
• Space limitations
• Availability of similar information in online resources

Censorship or Objection to Library Materials

The choice of library materials by users is an individual matter. Responsibility for the books and materials used by children and adolescents rests with their parents or legal guardians.

While a person may reject material for themselves and/or their children, they cannot exercise censorship to restrict access to books, materials and Library resources by others. The library supports intellectual freedom and has adopted the following statements as part of our policy: ALA Freedom to Read Statement, ALA Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to View statement of the ALA Council. These policies are posted for review.

Requests for reconsideration may be made only by registered Odell Library patrons and must be made in writing on the Patron Reconsideration form. It can then be given to the Library Director who will prepare a written response. Appeals will be directed to the Board of Trustees for a final decision. Materials will remain in use until Board action is determined.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services:

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background or views of those contributing to their creation.

2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

3. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.

5. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background or views.

6. Libraries that make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they service should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 19, 1939 by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18 1948, February 2, 1961; June 17, 1967; January 23, 1980 and inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

FREEDOM TO READ STATEMENT
The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.
Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.
These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.
Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.
Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.
We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.
The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.
We therefore affirm these propositions:
1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.
Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.
2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.
Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.
The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, 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 public information.
It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental prerogative or self-censorship.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.
The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.
We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.
________________________________________

This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.
Adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.
A Joint Statement by:
American Library Association
Association of American Publishers
Subsequently endorsed by:
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
The Association of American University Presses, Inc.
The Children’s Book Council
Freedom to Read Foundation
National Association of College Stores
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Council of Teachers of English
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

FREEDOM TO VIEW STATEMENT

The FREEDOM TO VIEW, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States . In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore these principles are affirmed:
1. To provide the broadest access to film, video, and other audiovisual materials because they are a means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
2. To protect the confidentiality of all individuals and institutions using film, video, and other audiovisual materials.
3. To provide film, video, and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
4. To provide a diversity of viewpoints without the constraint of labeling or prejudging film, video, or other audiovisual materials on the basis of the moral, religious, or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
5. To contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public’s freedom to view.
This statement was originally drafted by the Freedom to View Committee of the American Film and Video Association (formerly the Educational Film Library Association) and was adopted by the AFVA Board of Directors in February 1979. This statement was updated and approved by the AFVA Board of Directors in 1989.
Endorsed January 10, 1990, by the ALA Council