Marathon County Public Library

ITEM NUMBER: 4.09 a-b

CHAPTER 4: Library

Statement

CODE: Policy

COMPUTER ID: LS-9



Title: Access: Free Access to Libraries for Minors, An Interpretation

of the Library Bill of Rights.

Effective Date: 11-24-86

Authorized By: Library Board of Trustees

Date of Last Review: 7-2013



Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to

all library resources available to other users violate the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS. The

American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services,

materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.



Article V of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS states, "A person's right to use a library should

not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views." The "right to use

a library" includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and

facilities the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library

resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal

emancipation of users violates Article V.



Libraries are charged with the mission of developing resources to meet the diverse

information needs and interests of the communities they serve. Services, materials, and

facilities that fulfill the needs and interests of library users at different stages in their

personal development are a necessary part of library resources. The needs and interests

of each library user, and resources appropriate to meet those needs and interests, must be

determined on an individual basis. Librarians cannot predict what resources will best fulfill

the needs and interests of any individual user based on a single criterion such as

chronological age, educational level, literacy skills or legal emancipation.



Libraries should not limit the selection and development of library resources simply

because minors will have access to them. Institutional self-censorship diminishes the

credibility of the library in the community, and restricts access for all library users.



Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the

right to receive information in the library. Constitutionally protected speech cannot be

suppressed solely to protect children or young adults from ideas or images a legislative

body believes to be unsuitable for them. Librarians and library governing bodies should

not resort to age restrictions in an effort to avoid actual or anticipated objections, because

only a court of law can determine whether material is not constitutionally protected.



The mission, goals, and objectives of libraries cannot authorize librarians or library

governing bodies to assume, abrogate, or overrule the rights and responsibilities of

ITEM NUMBER: 4.09 b





parents. As "Libraries: An American Value

" states, "We affirm the responsibility and the

right of all parents and guardians to guide their own children's use of the library and its

resources and services." Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents -

and only parents - have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their

children - and only their children - to library resources. Parents who do not want their

children to have access to certain library services, materials, or facilities should so advise

their children. Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or

the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child.



Lack of access to information can be harmful to minors. Librarians and library governing

bodies have a public and professional obligation to ensure that all members of the

community they serve have free, equal, and equitable access to the entire range of library

resources regardless of content, approach, format, or amount of detail. This principle of

library service applies equally to all users, minors as well as adults. Librarians and library

governing bodies must uphold this principle in order to provide adequate and effective

service to minors.





Adopted June 30, 1972, by the ALA Council;

amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991; June 30, 2004