To me, intellectual freedom is one of the more interesting topics in librarianship, whether it is in school, public, or academic libraries. Undoubtedly, library patrons have rights, but what if these conflict with the rights of others?
The Coatney reading discusses how school librarians should handle issues of intellectual freedom as they arise. How do librarians develop a collection and library policies that accommodate all users as fairly as possible? For a school library to be most effective, it should reflect the needs and interests of its users. But what if its users are interested in material that is not age- or content-appropriate? Compared to public librarians serving the same age demographic, school librarians would certainly need to be more guarded in allowing access to certain materials. Related to what Coatney discusses, I think it is also crucial that school librarians maintain effective relationships within their school community. Not only will this help in building a representative library collection, but it can provide the librarian with support over issues of intellectual freedom.
Isn't the line between what's "appropriate" and "inappropriate" so difficult to define. It's too subjective and blurry - how will we know what's right?
ReplyDeleteAlso, if librarians maintain positive relationships, everyone will be on the same page when it comes to teaching students about intellectual freedom. There will hopefully not be multiple teachers teaching differently about this topic.
ReplyDeleteAll good points about why positive relationships with the community are important. Think we public librarians have the same responsibilities? This is one area where I think we have a little more leeway, thank goodness. Just a little, but with such a thorny issue, I'll take what I can get, huh?!
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