Libraries Must Protect the Freedom to Read

So says Forbes.

From the piece...

As individuals and parents it is certainly appropriate that we set boundaries for reading for ourselves and our children. What is not appropriate is when individuals set limits for other people. As Supreme Court Justice William Brennan said in the 1989 United States flag burning decision, Texas vs. Johnson, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”

To that end, librarians, publishers, booksellers and attorneys have created the Freedom to Read Foundation. The Foundation promotes and defends the right to express and consider ideas without governmental interference; to foster institutions wherein every individual’s First Amendment freedoms are fulfilled; and to support the right of libraries to distribute any work they legally acquire.

Indeed, libraries and schools have failed their jobs if book collections don't include information, ideas or topics that each of us might find uncomfortable at some level. Our society’s beliefs and ideas are diverse--libraries in their support of intellectual freedom must provide the broadest access to divergent viewpoints and materials. These viewpoints are not always popular, nor do they need to represent the majority’s opinion, but they must be available to those who wish to read them, whether to support or decry them.