American Library Association and Censorship
The American Library Association (ALA) plays a critical role in the discourse surrounding censorship and intellectual freedom within libraries. Historically, librarians have been tasked with selecting and safeguarding books, and this has sometimes led to the act of censorship, both consciously and unconsciously. In the late 19th century, the ALA initially supported certain censorship practices, but a significant shift occurred in 1896 when the ALA endorsed free access to library shelves. Over the decades, particularly during periods of social upheaval like World War I and the Red Scare, the ALA has faced pressures to restrict access to materials deemed subversive or dangerous.
In response, the ALA established the Library Bill of Rights and the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) to safeguard the rights of library users and oppose censorship. The OIF provides resources, training, and support to librarians contending with censorship challenges, including initiatives like Banned Books Week that highlight attempts to remove certain books from library collections. Moving into the 21st century, the ALA continues to advocate for intellectual freedom and aims to influence national information policies to ensure equitable access to information technology. Through its ongoing efforts, the ALA emphasizes the necessity of protecting diverse opinions and materials in a democratic society.
American Library Association and Censorship
- FOUNDED: 1876
- TYPE OF ORGANIZATION: The largest library association in the world, ALA has 57,000 members representing school, academic, state, and special libraries
SIGNIFICANCE: ALA is one the most active US bodies opposing censorship of information, preserving free public access to library materials, and promoting librarians’ right of intellectual freedom.
Selecting and guarding books in libraries are two traditional tasks of librarians. Selecting and guarding books entails screening books and controlling access to them. At times, therefore, librarians consciously or unconsciously act as censors. In the past many librarians favored censorship. During its early years in the late nineteenth century even ALA itself listed books it approved for the public to read. Such attitudes and practices significantly changed in 1896, when the delegates to an ALA conference approved free access to shelves in public libraries. This decision contrasted sharply with sentiments shown at earlier conferences.
During World War I many American librarians believed that pro-German literature should be withdrawn from public libraries. As a result, the ALA’s governing council appointed a committee to prepare a list warning of books whose misuse should be guarded against. However, this committee never produced the proposed list.
In 1929 ALA’s executive board spoke out in opposition to a proposed federal tariff bill that would prohibit importing materials advocating or urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to US laws. The board also opposed tariffs on obscene books, papers, or the like. Its members argued that this law would create effective censorship over foreign literature and keep out material relating to revolutions in foreign countries. The board also argued that this law was a reflection upon the intelligence of the American people by implying that they were too stupid and untrustworthy to read about revolutions without immediately becoming traitors and revolutionaries themselves.
Before the 1930s many articles published in library literature tended to support censorship, while only a few supported intellectual freedom. This situation dramatically changed as ALA took a stronger position against censorship. In 1934, the association recorded its first protest against the banning of a specific publication. In 1939, John Steinbeck’s new novel, The Grapes of Wrath, became the target of censorship pressures and was banned from libraries around the country. ALA responded by adopting the Library Bill of Rights to support librarians and library boards opposed to censorship of materials. Since then, the Library Bill of Rights has become the library profession’s basic policy statement on protecting the rights of librarians and library users to intellectual freedom.
Intellectual Freedom Committee
During and after World War II, demands increased for strict control over the dissemination of propaganda and “subversive” publications. The challenge of censorship became an everyday problem encountered by the library profession during this era. In response to the continuing pressure on libraries regarding material thought to be subversive, ALA established a special committee on censorship. In late 1940 the ALA council appointed a new committee on intellectual freedom, empowering it to act for ALA in safeguarding the rights of library users. Establishment of this committee strengthened ALA’s role in censorship disputes and helped many librarians change their attitudes toward intellectual freedom.
During the postwar years, especially between 1949 and 1954, the anti-intellectual freedom activities were greater than in the prewar period because of nationwide fears of communism. Censorship activities against libraries were on the increase throughout the country. Patriotic and religious organizations, such as the Sons of the American Revolution, attempted to force libraries to label dangerous materials to alert patrons. For example, labels were to be applied to publications advocating communism or issued by communist agencies. On July 13, 1951, the ALA council unanimously adopted a strong statement, recommended by the Intellectual Freedom Committee, condemning attempts to label library materials. The statement pointed out that labeling was a tool of censorship and a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution.
In early 1953, the principle of freedom of information was severely tested in the library community once again when US State Department libraries in foreign cities came under pressure from Senator Joseph McCarthy to remove books about communism or by communist authors. In response to this situation, in May 1953, ALA with the American Book Publishers’ Council adopted the Freedom to Read Statement attacking censorship and the attempts at suppression of reading materials. The statement expressed ALA’s concern that citizens had been constantly threatened with censorship from the public and the private sectors. The statement also indicated that freedom to read was essential in any democracy. A further statement was adopted by ALA condemning US interference with American libraries in other countries. From 1940 until 1967, most intellectual freedom activities were centered in the Intellectual Freedom Committee. The committee not only recommended policies to fight censorship but also directed a variety of educational efforts to promote intellectual freedom.
To relieve the Intellectual Freedom Committee’s task of educating librarians and the general public on the importance of intellectual freedom and allow it to concentrate on developing policy, ALA established the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) in 1967. It served as an ALA headquarters unit to conduct and coordinate intellectual freedom activities. The OIF has since served as the administrative arm of the Intellectual Freedom Committee and has borne responsibility for implementing official ALA policies on intellectual freedom. The specific goal of the OIF has been to educate librarians and the public about the importance of concepts embodied in the Library Bill of Rights.
Since its inception, the OIF has created and maintained a broad program of informational publications, projects, and supportive services. Its regular publications are the bimonthly Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom and the monthly OIF Memorandum. Special OIF publications prepared for librarians have included the Banned Books Week Resource Kit, Censorship and Selection: Issues and Answers for Schools, Confidentiality in Libraries: An Intellectual Freedom Modular Education Program, the Intellectual Freedom Manual, and miscellaneous bibliographies. In addition, the OIF has accepted speaking engagements, given interviews to news media on intellectual freedom, and maintained exhibits on banned books and non-mainstream publications. In a supportive role, the OIF advises and consults with librarians confronting potential or actual censorship.
The OIF has also coordinated the Intellectual Freedom Committee’s relations with other agencies and organizations having similar concerns. It has worked closely with the Freedom to Read Foundation, an ALA sister organization dedicated to litigating court cases affecting the rights of libraries and librarians, allocating and disbursing grants to individuals and groups primarily for the purpose of aiding them in litigation, and providing funds for the direct participation in litigation dealing with freedom of speech and of the press.
In June 1973, ALA set up the Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) as the association’s membership activity program for intellectual freedom. The IFRT has provided a forum for discussions of activities, programs, and problems related to the intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians. It has served as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters, promoted opportunities for involvement by ALA members in defense of intellectual freedom, and promoted feelings of responsibility in implementation of ALA policies on intellectual freedom.
Goals for the Twenty-first Century
ALA has been generally successful in promoting and preserving the idea of intellectual freedom. It has set goals for the twenty-first century. ALA Goal 2000, an initiative endorsed by ALA’s executive board in 1994, aimed to ensure that the association is as closely associated with the public’s right to a free and open information society—intellectual participation—as it is with the idea of intellectual freedom.
The key goal is to make the voices of ALA and libraries heard in the board rooms of government and corporations where information policies are being developed. These policies determine who will have access to new information technology and at what price. ALA considers that it and the voice of the American people are outnumbered, outspent, and too often absent.
In implementing ALA Goal 2000, ALA called for expanding its Washington office and establishing an Office for Information Technology Policy to increase its ability to influence national information policy and support its members in addressing these issues at the local and state levels. Issues of immediate concern include renewal of the Library Services and Construction Act, funding for library programs under the Higher Education Act, and favorable telecommunications access rates for libraries. ALA Goal 2000 also has focused its energies and resources on positioning its association as a force for the public interest in the arena of electronic information.
In 2023, the Public Library Association of the ALA published the Public Library Services for Strong Communities Report, which focused on how libraries currently serve their communities and plan to continue to do so in the future.
The OIF is responsible for the annual Banned Books Week, during which it brings attention to the books that people have requested be removed from library shelves. The ALA considers this a form of censorship, as it is an attempt to restrict access to the book, often on ideological grounds. It also provides year-round support to librarians dealing with challenges to (i.e. requests for removal of) library materials.
Throughout the 2020s, libraries across the country faced growing attempts at book bans, many as part of a conservative claim that books that include topics of gender identity, sexual orientation, or critical race theory are inappropriate for children. According to the ALA, more than 4,000 unique books were challenged in 2023. In 2024, the state of Georgia proposed legislation that would prohibit public expenditures on the ALA in order to combat the push to diversify library collections. The ALA opposed the legislation, arguing that it was based on false narratives and misinformation.
Bibliography
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"Top 100 Most Banned and Challenged Books: 2010–2019." American Library Association, 9 Sept. 2020, www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/decade2019. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
"Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A." American Library Association, 24 July 2023, www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorship/faq. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
Kuhn, Casey. "Library Book Ban Attempts Are at an All-Time High. These Librarians are Fighting Back." PBS News, 15 Apr. 2024, www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/attempts-to-ban-books-are-at-an-all-time-high-these-librarians-are-fighting-back. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom. American Library Assn., 2021, journals.ala.org/index.php/nif. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
Office for Intellectual Freedom. Intellectual Freedom Manual. 8th ed. ALA Editions, 2010.
Thomison, Dennis. History of the American Library Association. ALA Editions, 1978.
Wick, Judith. "Jerry Falwell, Judith Krug, and the Origins of Banned Books Week." Longreads, 2 Oct. 2015, longreads.com/2015/10/02/jerry-falwell-judith-krug-and-the-origins-of-banned-books-week/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.