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ARTICLES 

INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM & CENSORSHIP: 
A TEACHING CHALLENGE 

by Dr. Ann Curry 

The concepts of intellectual freedom and censorship are key 
to the practice of librarianship, and introducing students to these 
concepts should be an important part of any library and 
information science program curriculum. Teaching this topic is 
often problematic, however, because personal values and beliefs 
are involved and because many related issues continue to be 

unresolved not only in society but by practitioners themselves. 
In the experience of this teacher, a combination of readings (both 
current and historical), class discussions, and small group case­
study analyses has proved to be most effective in introducing 
the topic since the concepts themselves are exceedingly complex 
and require a variety of teaching approaches. 

In the 1990s, issues such as multiculturalism, political 
correctness, racism, and the impact of pornography and violence 

portrayed in the media have made the relationship between 
intellectual freedom and the library profession a subject of 
continuing debate for practising librarians and very perplexing 

for students. This article explains briefly some of the themes 
and arguments used for instruction and details the results of three 

intellectual freedom related questions asked of 60 directors of 
large public libraries in Canada and the U.K. as part of a larger 
research project (Curry, 1993). The opinions of these directors 
have formed the basis of instructional case studies and have been 

drawn upon frequently to show students not only the various 
sides of intellectual freedom issues but also the conflicting 

opinions within the library profession. Although the research 
results are limited to two countries, the conclusions have 
international application. 

W hen teaching, one must concentrate on the laws, issues 
and professional philosophies of one's own country, but" 

international publishing, satellite television broadcasts, and the 
Internet have given a global dimension to many intellectual 
freedom issues such as Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses. As 

well, recent trade agreements and promising job markets have 
prompted some Canadian library science graduates to seek 
employment in the U.S. and the U.K. For these reasons primarily, 
a more international focus is appropriate when introducing 
intellectual freedom and censorship to students. 

Education Ubrerie• • Vol 1 9, No. 1 

BACKGROUND READING 

John Stuart Mill's On Liberty (1974) and John Milton's 
Areopagitica (1951) make arduous reading for many students, 
but study guides and class discussions linking the authors' 
philosophies with library issues usually lead students to 
appreciate these key historical texts. They continue to be quoted 

in 1990s censorship debates and lend historical context to current 
intellectual freedom statements, making worthwhile the students' 
efforts interpreting this prose of previous centuries. As further 
historical background, the accomplishments of Lenin's spouse, 
librarian Nadezhda Skrupskaia, can be introduced to acquaint 

students with the opposing viewpoint regarding government 
involvement in control of information. 

Current readings assigned to students are best selected with 
regard to issues of topical interest, but the works of Hauptman 

(1988), and Swan (1989) are recommended. In addition, 
Woodward's article on ethics (1990) is particularly effective as 
an introduction to the methods used by society (including the 
students themselves) when deciding ethical issues such the 
availability of controversial information. 

LffiRARY ASSOCIATION CODES 

Relevant documents from professional library associations 

shbuld also be included in an instructional package on censorship 
and intellectual freedom. These documents may be codes of 
ethics, freedom to read statements, library bills of rights, or 
general policies on intellectual freedom, depending on the 
association. Those from the Canadian, British, and American 
associations are particularly useful for background reading or 
examination. 

The Canadian Library Association (CLA) has both a 
Statement on Intellectual Freedom and a Code of Ethics which 
guide the conduct of its members. The Statement notes that 
Canadians have the fundamental right: 

6 -



... to have access to all expressions of knowledge, 
creativity and intellectual activity, and to express 
their thoughts publicly. 

It further states that: 
It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and 
facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and 
intellectual activity, including those which some 
elements of society may consider to be 
unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this 
end, libraries shall acquire and make available the 
widest variety of materials. (CLA, 1985) 

The Code of Ethics, which is currently under review (Ellis, 1994 ), 
states that librarians have a responsibility to uphold the 
Intellectual Freedom Statement and adds further responsibilities 
pertaining to high standards of service and the need to "protect 
the privacy and dignity of library users and staff." 

Classroom discussion of documents will alert students to 
the professional beliefs agreed upon by association members, 
but these discussions must include the federal and provincial/ 
state laws which affect professional practice. For example, the 
Canadian Charter ofRights and Freedoms (effective 1984 ), states 
that freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression are: 

... subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed 
by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free 
and democratic society. (Constitution Act, 1982) 

Recent court cases dealing with pornographic adult videos (R. 
v. Butler) and paintings depicting children in sexual activity 
("Child-porn," 1993) are further defining what the CanadiaJ) 
courts consider to be "reasonable limits." Students should also 
be introduced to federal and provincial/state freedom of 
information legislation because these laws further define what 
information may be restricted by government and what privacy 
rights may be exercised by individuals. 

In the U.K., the Library Association's (LA) 1983 Code of 
Professional Conduct (LA, 1987, p. 120) and the Code's guidance 
notes (LA, 1986) are the most influential association documents 
pertaining to intellectual freedom. Section f of the Code states 
that: 

In places to which the public has right of access, 
save where the flow of information must be 
restricted by reason of confidentiality, members 
have an obligation to facilitate the flow of 
information and ideas and to protect and promote 
the rights of every individual to have free and equal 
access to sources of information without 
discrimination and within the limits of the law. 

Section g is equally important: 

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Members shall not knowingly promote material the 
prime purpose of which is to encourage 
discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, creed, 
gender or sexual orientation. It shall not be regarded 
as promoting such material to divulge it for the 
purpose of study ing the subject of that 
discrimination. 

The Code is intended as "an indication of the standards of 
behaviour expected of a member" (LA, 1986) and although 
voluntary adherence is stated to be the norm, disciplinary action 
such as suspension or expulsion from the Association is stated 
in section 3a as the possible result of putting personal interests 
ahead of professional interests: 

The essential principle which lies behind the Code 
is that the professional librarian's prime duty is to 
facilitate access to materials and information in 
order to meet the requirement of the client, 
irrespective of the librarian's personal interests and 
views on the content of the material and the client's 
requirement. (LA, 1986) 

Of the three associations, the American Library Association 
(ALA) has had the most extensive and lengthy involvement in 
the formulation of intellectual freedom codes. The original ALA 
Bill of Rights adopted in 1939 has undergone many revisions, 
but its focus has remained constant and it continues to anchor 
ALA policies. The Bill currently states that libraries have a duty 
to "challenge censorship in fulfillment of their responsibility to 
provide information and enlightenment." It states more 
specifically that "libraries should provide materials and 
information presenting all points of view on current and historical 
issues," and that "materials should not be proscribed or removed 
because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval" (ALA, 1992, p. 3 ). 
T he ALA In tellectual Freedom Manual is the most 
comprehensive resource document on this subject for students: 
its detailed and up-to-date interpretations are relied upon 
extensively not only in the U.S. but also influence librarians in 
Canada and the U.K. (Curry, 1993, pp. 439, 445). Topics in the 
Manual of particular importance for teaching purposes (and often 
ones generating considerable class discussion) are children's 
access to material, labelling, policies on meeting rooms and 
display areas, and the actions recommended to prepare for 
censorship challenges. It should be noted that ALA has a Code 
of Professional Ethics which is similar in intent and wording to 
those of CLA and the LA, and that this Code is currently being 
revised. 

OPINIONS OF PUBLIC LIDRARY DIRECTORS: 
RESEARCH RESULTS 

A crucial component in learning about intellectual freedom 
and censorship is recognizing that librarians' personal beliefs 
may influence and/or conflict with professional beliefs. To 
present this phenomenon, classroom instructional material has 
been formulated from sections of a larger study (Curry, 1993), 
whose primary purpose was to determine Canadian and British 
public library directors' attitudes towards intellectual freedom 
policies and procedures and to explore the professional 
experiences which may have influenced formation of those 
attitudes. Sixty directors (30 Canadian, 30 British) who manage 
library systems serving more than 150,000 were personally 
interviewed during 1991. Professional experiences were not 

Education Ubrariea • Vol 1 9, No. 1 



.. 

considered in isolation, however. Personal beliefs were also 
investigated so that so a more complete picture of directors' 
attitudes could be achieved. Precedence for this examination of 
librarians' personal opinions exists in the work of England (1974) 
and Busha (1972), and more recent examination was felt to be 
warranted. The results of three questions from the larger study 
are presented here .to show the building material from_ which the 
case studies were constructed. Due to the focus of the original 
study, a comparison between Canada and Britain, the source 
materials are primarily from those two countries. The issues and 
directors' opinions, however, can be considered in a broader 
context. 

The interviewer constructed nine general statements 
concerning the application of intellectual freedom in current 
societal controversies, some from issues appearing in the general 
British or Canadian media, others stemming from those discussed 
in library journals. They were intended to be current, relevant in 
both countries involved, and connected with possible 
management decisions made by library directors. The issues 
covered topics such as media conglomerates, pornography, 
homosexuality, multiculturalism, information technology, 
protection from offensive material, and freedom of information. 
The three issues presented here concern the right not to be 
offended, the right of all ideas to be heard, and the possible 
conflict between intellectual freedom and multiculturalism. 
Direct quotes from respondents are displayed in italics, with 
(Can.) Canadian or (U.K.) United Kingdom indicating 
nationality. 

The right not be be offended 

Sexually explicit material is often protested against, whether 
in public libraries or in the general marketplace, because it causes 
offence. In Britain, women belonging to the group Campaign 
Against Pornography urged store owners not to stock 
pornographic magazines so women would not be offended by 
their presence. It was reported that some stores did so and 
advertised their establishments as "offence-free" (Bunting, 1990, 
p. 8). 

In Canada, the Ontario Human Rights Commission was 
petitioned to order the removal of soft pornography magazines 
such as Playboy and Penthouse from convenience stores because 
the women complainants are uncomfortable in the "hostile 
environment" they create (Fennell, 1993, p. 14). Their petition 
asserts that the right of women not to be offended must take 
precedence over individual rights to access material. An editorial 
in The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper, counters 
that this argument makes the rights of the allegedly harmed 
individuals unassailable (Right to offend, 1993, p. A14 ), contrary 
to the usual provisions of human rights legislation which attempt 
a balancing of competing rights. The restraints called for in the 
petition are described as "dangerous . . .  censorship of 
unprecedented breadth: censorship of rudeness." The editorial 
concludes that "As the censored (and ultimately murdered) 
Soviet-Jewish writer Isaac Babel said in 1934, the right to write 

Education Ubrerie• • Vol 1 9, No. 1 

badly is no small thing; in our context, we might say the right to 
give offence must not be undervalued." 

When the 60 directors in the study were asked whether an 
individual should have an absolute right to protection from 
material which he or she finds personally offensive, 19 of 30 
British (63%) and 23 of 30 Canadian directors (77%) disagreed 
or strongly disagreed with such a right (graph 1). 

Considerable similarity exists in the British and Canadian 
reasons for disagreeing. Most believe that the individual has the 
primary responsibility to protect his/her own mind, a 
responsibility that society and the library should not assume. 

People can find their own protection. They can not 
look at it, turn it off, shut the book ... but don't burn 
it though! (U.K.) 

They categorized the idea of protection as "insulting", and said 
that the philosophy expressed therein "reduced people to 
children." By implication, they question how much harm can 
result from the momentary encounter with offensive material 
needed for its evaluation. 

People shouldn't be protected because life is not 
like that. Life is hard, and hard decisions have to 
be made. Adults should know something about patlrs 
not taken. (U.K.) 

Protecting people from offense was labelled as "undemocratic," 
particularly by those who strongly disagreed A British director 
said the idea was "abhorrent to the democratic process" because 
people must have the right to choose, while a Canadian director 
said that the idea "flies in the face of democratic principles," 
considered a great responsibility in themselves. Practical 
questions such as how to identify all offensive material and "who 
censors the censors?" concerned many. 

The smaller number of directors who would give this right 
think they should not have to see things they do not wish to see. 
The Canadians of this opinion referred exclusively to the right 
not to be "swprised" by abhorrent images or words: "aggressively 
confronted with offense," in the words of one. They expect 
society (and the public library) to assume some responsibility 
for prevention of this confrontation. In contrast, only one of the 
eleven British directors mentioned this element of unexpected 
offense. The British concentrated on: 

1) the extreme offensiveness of images in 
today's society, (n=7) 

2) the degrees of protection which are 
acceptable, (n=6) and/or 

3) the need for ethnic minority groups to be 
protected from experiencing offense. (n=4) 

The increasing explicitness of objectionable images over the 
years, they said, had finally resulted in some images which are 
extremely offensive. Those who differentiated degrees of 
protection said that "cosseting" or "mollycoddling" is not needed 
but that people have a right to be "sheltered" from indecent or 
shockingly offensive material. 

I would like it to be so. I don't know how, but I 
agree that somehow that right [to protection] should 
be there. (U.K.) 

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A relationship could be discerned between responses of the 
Canadian directors and their length of experience. All seven who 
agreed that people should have the right to be protected from 
offensive material had 10 or fewer years of experience in director 
level positions. In contrast, seven of the eight who strongly 
disagreed had 16 or more years of director-level experience. 
Greater managerial experience in libraries apparently leads 
Canadian directors to believe that protection of the public in 
this area is either not needed or not practicable. The different 
ages of the directors appeared to have no bearing, nor was either 
factor an evident determinant of the stances of the British. 

The right of all ideas to be heard 

Canadian, American, and British,societies are concerned 
with defining limits, if any, to the freedom to disseminate 
information. In 1990, the public prosecutor of the City of 
Cincinnati charged the Contemporary Arts Center and its director 
for publicly showing obscene photographs in an exhibition of 
Mapplethoq>e photographs. Some gallery visitors and others who 
had never seen the exhibit complained that many of the 
photographs are repulsive; others defended them as the works 
of a richly talented photographer. The gallery director and board 
were eventually cleared of obscenity charges, but news of the 
protests against homoerotic images and naked children became 
international news (Vmcent, 1990, p. A13 ). Lyrics of rock songs 
have also recently prompted obscenity charges in severa,l 
jurisdictions. Parents have attempted to ban particular songs as 
being extremely repulsive because of the portrayal of violence 
against women and the police. Public prosecutors in both Canada 
and the United States charged the rock group 2 Live Crew with 
obscenity because of the vulgar, disgusting, and de-humanizing 
nature of its lyrics. 

Even some authors express concern about the proliferation 
of repulsive ideas in the marketplace. British author A.S. Byatt 
is irritated that " ... the artistic and intellectual Left are so glibly 
sure that ... human freedom requires the unconstrained 
availability of dirt and damage. Free speech is not a value that 
overrides all others in all situations" (Byatt, 1988, p. 159). The 
editor of London's underground magazine OZ in the 1960s, 
Richard Neville, is now worried about the moral repercussions 
of sadistic videos and novels. He uses an environmental pollution 
analogy to make his point: "For as surely as toxic residues kill 
the fish and the fowl, so the sludge of mean-spirited filmmakers 
and writers kill our spirit. It is renewal that is needed now, honour 

and optimism, not the sordid excesses of artists talented in merely 
shocking us. We must regain our sense of discrimination" 
(Neville, 1990, p. 102). British writer Susan Mendus also voices 
strong concerns, saying that "the right to further argument by 
speaking freely is not identical with the right to abuse," and 
supporting restriction of repulsive material which may cause 
outrage and offence (Mendus, 1990, p. 11). 

When directors responded to the statement "All ideas, no 
matter how repulsive, have a right to be heard" 22 British (73%) 

-8 

and 24 Canadian directors (80%) agreed or strongly agreed 
(graph 2). Despite this degree of agreement and the small number 
of neutral responses, the subsequent comments show that 
agreement in practice lags far behind that in principle. In the 
entire interview process (involving 50 questions), no agreement 
or disagreement was qualified so strongly by conditions. The 
most notable ones are: 

1) ideas cannot be imposed on people (n=39), 
2) the context must be appropriate (n=27), 
3) those espousing repulsive ideas must accept 

opposition (n=15). 
The first condition may be described as "not granting someone 
the right to be listened to." The right of an opinionated person to 
a foriun to express repulsive ideas persistently can, in the view 
of these directors, be distinguished from the right of the ideas to 
exist in the abstract and anyone in the way of the communication 
must have the option of not seeing/listening and of walking away 
from whoever espouses those ideas. 

They [ideas] have a right to be heard . . .  but I do not 
agree that they have a right to be juxtaposed in 
people's lives. You must not say to a person that 
they have no right to express the opinion that they 
hold, that is dangerous. [But] I think there is a 
limitation to how often that somebody who's got a 
view that is clearly unpalatable to the majority of 
society has the opportunity and frequency to express 
it in all its forms. It's one thing for me to say that 
there is nothing the matter with murder, but I don't 
expect that idea or that person propagating it to 
keep cropping up through my life or in the society I 
live in. I can understand people objecting to the 
views of a very small minority popping up 
wheresoever they look or in whatever guise ... [ think 
society has a right to limit the ways in which those 
unpalatable views are being thrust at us. (U.K.) 

Many directors consider that nobody should have the absolute 

right to "propagandize" repulsive ideas in the mass media or in 
any other locale or context which would constitute an unwanted 
intrusion for most people. They stressed that those promoting 
ideas abhorrent to the general public have no right to command 
attention, and that neither society in general nor the public library 
in particular is obligated to provide a public forum for them. 

Directors attach considerable importance to the context in 
which repulsive ideas are disseminated: where the ideas are 
distributed and how they are expressed. They spoke of 
inappropriate communication methods and unsuitable 
environments and gave examples such as shouting in a public 
square; distributing these ideas in a schoolyard; promoting them 
on public library premises, such as meeting rooms and display 
spaces; and interviews on mass media, particularly radio and 
television. 

Intellectual freedom requires responsibility, and 
how and where dreadful ideas are heard is part of 
that responsibility. (U.K.) 

Education Libraries • Vol 19, No. 1 



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It was mainly British directors who noted the necessity of 
those espousing repulsive ideas to accept opposition. They feel 
that members of a democratic society have a right (some 
considered it a responsibility) to contest abhorrent ideas and 
speakers have a concomitant responsibility to tolerate this torrent 
of counter opinion. 

Ideas stand or fall by the quality of the challenges 
that confront them through open discussion, so the 
right to be heard must be coupled with the 
responsibility to be challenged. (U.K.) 

Most of those directors who disagreed that all ideas have a 
right to be heard believe some are so abhorrent that they do not 
have the right to be included in a civilized society no matter 
what conditions might be in place. These ideas were often 
described as "beyond the pale" or "beyond the edge." Directors 
in this group expressed the same view as Canadian library school 
professor S.D. Neill (1988, p. 36) that society has the right to 
"draw a line somewhere" with some ideas so they can be "denied 
the light of day." When asked for an example of an idea which 
did not have the right to be heard, most Canadian and British 
directors cited ideas advocating or fostering hatred of a particular 
racial group. 

In general, a director's answers depended on whether or 
not he/she accepts the philosophy attributed to Voltaire - "I 
disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your 
right to say it." Assenting directors see this as a democratic 
principle and believe absolute suppression of repulsive ideas 
would engender more harm than good. 

If we don't know the repulsive, we don't know the 
beautiful. (Can.) 
Suppressing the idea tends to reinforce the idea that 
it has some value or some substance. (U.K.) 

Despite this faith in the basic principle, 90% of directors added 
conditions to their approval: repulsive ideas may have the right 
to be promoted in society, but the right to promote them comes 
with restraints. In comparison, directors who disagreed with the 
interview statement believe some ideas should not be available 
under any circumstances and that a "civilized society" has the 
responsibility to deny those ideas the right to be heard. 

Intellectual Freedom and Multicultural Harmony 
Britain, Canada, and the U.S. have become much more 

multicultural over the past thirty years, largely through increased 
immigration of visible minorities. These immigrants have 
brought a cultural diversity and richness but absorption of the 
disparate groups into the social fabric has provoked racial tension 
in all three countries. This last interview statement explores 
whether the practical problems of cultural coexistence have had 
an impact on directors' application of intellectual freedom 
principles. 

As first elucidated in Canada by Pierre Trudeau in 1971, 
multiculturalism was an official federal government policy 
designed to make Canadian society stronger by recognizing, 
preserving, and highlighting the diversity of backgrounds of 
Canadian citizens on the premise that a variety of racial, cultural, 

Education l..ibrariea • Vol 19, No. 1 

religious, and linguistic differences make Canada a much 
stronger country. In other words, as a "mosaic of cultures," 
Canada is unified by the continuing diversity of its citizens. 

In the twenty years since, however, the proportion of 
Canadian residents of non-European ancestry has more than 
tripled to over 10% of the population. The complex practice of 
multiculturalism is becoming an abrupt reality rather than an 
abstract philosophy. As a result, a 1992 Southam News poll found 
that 55% of Canadians say racial prejudice is rising, 44% believe 
that racism is a fairly serious problem, and 36% of the residents 
of Vancouver believe racial riots are likely to occur in their city 
(Lowrie; 1992, p. A1). 

The British Library Advisory Council, Canadian Library 
Association, American Library Association, and IFLA have all 
issued advisory documents about serving a multicultural 
community. These documents generally acknowledge difficulties 
with stocking outdated materials containing stereotypical images, 
library staffing which does not reflect the linguistic and racial 
composition of the population, and providing adequate service 
to small ethnic populations (Library Advisory Council, 1976; 
Multicultural Services Interest Group, 1986; Reference &Adult 
Services Division, 1990; IFLA, 1987). The responsibility of the 
public library to help eliminate racism has been explored in the 
professional literature: (Shah, 1984), (Price, 1990), (Talbot, 
1990), (Schulte-Albert, 1984), (Mylopoulos, 1985). 

When asked whether a conflict exists between the 
philosophy of intellectual freedom and the goal of multicultural 
harmony, both British and Canadian directors were of divided 
opinions (see graph 3), with Canadian directors in slightly less 
agreement than the British. Not all of the 26 assenting directors 
chose to comment and their remarks were not extensive, but 
they tended to focus on two major points: 

1) multicultural harmony and intellectual freedom 

are essentially conflicting ideals (n=16}, and/or 
2) censorship is central to certain cultures and 

religions. (n=12). 
Most directors who noted reason #1 consider the two ideals 

of multicultural harmony and intellectual freedom to be very 
difficult to achieve without compromise because the ideals are 
not mutually supportive but are working at cross putposes. 
According to them, it is naive in the 1990s to think that 
publication of inflammatory material will not create divisiveness 
between various races, religions, and cultures. 

On the one hand you're saying that people can /wid 
and publicize opinions that are degrading to 
minorities and they have the right to say them, and 
on the other hand you're trying to get the groups to 
see each other as equal in worth and value. (Can.) 

Some also referred to dissension caused by the mission of the 
public library to provide access to historical materials pertaining 
to cultures and races. Problems occur when the library tries to 
promote positive images while outdated and possibly negative 
images remain in the collection. 

9 -



We are going forward with new roles for women, 
new representations of races; and these are in 
conflict with the previous representations. (U.K.) 

According to J .S. Mill, truth is strengthened when it is continually 
compared to falsehood (Mill, 1974, p. 116) but many of these 
directors are convinced that destructive disharmony rather than 
enlightenment is more likely to occur if falsehood and negative 
images are allowed a podium. They are reluctant to let negative 
images of ethnic minorities appear in the marketplace because 
of the possible offense taken by groups and individuals and the 
subsequent disruption to society. 

Directors who noted that censorship is not universally 
considered an evil referred to personal experiences with the 
beliefs or practices of certain racial, religious, or cultural groups. 
These showed that many groups in British and Canadian society 
do not embrace the ideals of free exchange of ideas, open debate, 
and freedom of choice for the individual, and as a consequence, 
conflicts occur. The period of the interviews (early 1991) explains 
a focus by the directors on Moslems, both fundamentalist and 
other, because of the example of The Satanic Verses. Many 
British directors were also critical of the restrictions placed on 
access to information and freedom of choice for women of certain 
ethnic groups. 

Knowledge is power, and the males of some ethnic 
groups will fight to keep women ignorant. (U.K.) 

In contrast to assenting directors, the 33 who disagree that 
a conflict exists between intellectual freedom and multicultural 
harmony commented extensively. They based their remarks on 
goals and ideals rather than current social situations or actual 
conflict experiences. 1\vo major points emerged: 

1) knowledge removes biases and therefore helps 
multicultural harmony (n=20), and/or 

2) censorship of information creates a false 
multicultural harmony (n=18). 

The unrestricted flow of information, even information 
offensive to certain groups, is seen as crucial for breaking down 
prejudicial barriers. Education and the broadening of perspectives 
are advocated as the best substructures for social harmony while 
ignorance and illiteracy or aliteracy were said to foster conflict. 

I think it is the way people bend information and 
misappropriate information that is a detriment to 
multicultural harmony rather than intellectual 
freedom itself. It would be very sad if one said that 
the only way one could have complete harmony is 
restricting one's ability to think or speak. Surely 
what we ought to be trying to achieve is for everyone 
to think and speak positively; and I think you do 
that by a process of discussion, debate, and 
education rather than by constraining people as to 
what they can think. (U.K.) 

Many directors fear that a "false harmony" would result 
from curtailing all information which might be offensive to 
various racial, religious, and ethnic groups. They believe "true" 
multicultural harmony can come only with discussion of racial 

- 10 

issues because conflicts are rooted in attitudes rather than in 
offensive statements. 

Hatred goes much deeper than hearing something 
said about us that we object to. We can hate without 
hearing or even knowing other people, as shown 
by our centuries of sla.ughter. (Can.) 

Setting restrictions on dialogue was said to be "papering over 
the problem" of poor relations between groups and "letting it 
smoulder." Letting people express their points of view, even 
though offense may be caused, allows others to prove the 
speakers' errors. 

Directors who disagree that a conflict exists generally 
focused on the long term benefits of the free flow of information, 
using phrases such as "in the long run" and "for a better future." 

There are hard ways to do things and there are easy 
ways to do things, and sometimes the hard·way is 
more effective in the long term. (Can.) 

Contrary to their Likert response denying a conflict, most of the 
dissenting directors appear to acknowledge that at best, an uneasy 
relationship exists between the two concepts even though they 
did not envision an actual power struggle. In this relationship, 
they do not see that curtailing intellectual freedom will enhance 
multicultural harmony; n or that forsaking the goal of 
multicultural harmony will guarantee intellectual freedom. 

Most of the horrible racial problems we are facing 
today, we are facing because of ignorance or 
suppression of information. Let's try intellectual 
freedom. We can't make it any worse. (Can.) 

Those directors who disagree that a conflict exists between 
intellectual freedom and multicultural freedom are generally very 
optimistic (and perhaps idealistic) in their outlook. In contrast, 
most of those who agree there is a conflict, both British and 
Canadian, are deeply discouraged with the violence and 
intolerance in their respective countries and see offensive remarks 
as catalysts for further hatred and bloodshed. 

CONCLUSION 

Introducing students of librarianship and information science 
to the complex relationship between their chosen profession and 
intellectual freedom/censorship issues is a difficult task. 
Students' personal decisions about controversial material are 
strongly influenced by their emotional reactions to such material, 
and they have difficulty acknowledging that a different level of 
decision, a professional decision, is necessary in the information 
professions. 

Acquainting students with intellectual freedom and 
censorship association documents and emphasizing the relevant 
aspects of ethics codes indicates the importance of these issues 
to the profession, and prompts students who advocate censorship 
to examine problems more closely. Presenting only the 
professional "ideal" is a disservice to students, however, and 
therefore legal limitations on freedom of expression must be 

Education Ubreriee • Vol 19, No. 1 



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----------------------------------------------------------- -- --

Graph 1 

(/) 30 
Q) 28 (/) 
c 26 
0 24 
a. 22 
(/) 20 
Q) 1 8 

a: 1 6 
'+- 1 4 0 1 2 

I... 1 0 Q) 8 .0 
E 6 

4 ::::::1 2 
z 0 

Str. Agree Agree Disagree 

Responses 

STATEMENT: 
All ideas, no matter how 
repulsive, have a right to 
be heard 

Str. Disagree 

(/) 30 
Q) 2a (/) 26 c 
0 24 
a. 22 
(/) 20 
Q) 1 a 
a: 1 6 
'+- 1 4 
0 1 2 
I... 1 0 Q) 

.0 a 

E 
6 
4 

::::::1 2 
z 0 

STATEMENT: 
People should have the right 
to be protected from material 
which they personally 
consider to be offensive. 

Graph 2 

Str. Ag rae Agree Neutral Disagree Str. 
Disagree 

(/) 30 
Q) 2a 
(/) 26 
c 24 
0 22 a. 
(/) 20 
Q) 1 a 

a: 1 6 
'+- 1 4 
0 1 2 
I... 1 0 
Q) a .0 6 
E 4 
::::::1 2 

z 0 

Graph 3 

Str. Agree Agree Disagree Str. No 
Disagree Opinion 

Responses 

Educ•tion Libr•rie• • Vol 19, No. 1 

Responses 

STATEMENT: 
A conflict exists between the 
philosophy of intellectual 
freedom and the goal of 
multicultural harmony 

II . 

UK 

CANADA 

11 -



discussed. But perhaps most important in the instructional 
process is the presentation of dilemmas practicing librarians face 
when balancing personal and professional views, and the 
difficulties they encounter when making management decisions 
about controversial material. Using research-based data from 
practising librarians to construct case studies and discussion 
questions adds the element of reality needed to make students 
identify with the librarian and to prompt students to examine 
their own beliefs. This is crucial if students are not to reject 
intellectual freedom philosophies prescribed by their professional 
association because the philosophy does not immediately sit 
comfortably in their ethical framework. The library directors' 
responses in the three questions discussed indicate clearly that 
many are struggling with the complexities of intellectual freedom 
issues. Exploring the conflicting ethical values held by these 
directors reinforces for students the crucial concepts that no easy 
answers should be expected in this area and that the management 
of conflicting personal and professional ethical values within 
oneself is a common challenge for librarians. 

REFERENCES 

American Library Association. ( 1992). Intellectual freedom 
manual (4th edition). Chicago: ALA. 

Bunting, Madeleine. (1990, April 18). Women force pornography 
off the shelf. The Guardian, p. 8. 

Busha, Charles H. (1972). Freedom versus suppression and 
censorship: with a study of the attitudes of Midwestern 
public librarians and a bibliography of censorship. Littleton: 
Libraries Unlimited. 

Byatt, A.S. ( 1 988, Feb. 12- 1 8). Obscenity and the arts - a 
symposium. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 159-61. 

Canadian Library Association. (1985). Statement on intellectual 
freedom. Ottawa: CLA. 

Child-porn law used for first time: Toronto artist (Eli Langer) 
charged. (1993, December 22). Globe & Mail, p. A5 

Constitution Act of 1 �82, Revised Statutes. Appendix 2 Part 1-
2.  (1985). 

Curry, Ann. (1993 ). A comparison of the roles and attitudes of 
Canadian and British public library directors in dealing 
with ·intellectual freedom issues. Unpublished doctoral 
dissertation, University of Sheffield 

Ellis, Richard. (1994). Responsible practice: a review of CLA's 
Code of Ethics. Feliciter, 40(9), 40-49. 

England, Claire St. Clere. (1974). The climate of censorship in 
Ontario: an investigation into attitudes toward intellectual 
freedom and the perceptual factors affecting the practice of 
censorship in public libraries serving medium-sized 
populations. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University 
of Toronto. 

Fennell, Tom. (1993, May 10). The centrefold war: do skin 
magazines violate human rights? Maclean's, 106, pp. 14, 16. 

Hauptman, Robert. ( 1988). Ethical issues in librarianship. 
Phoenix: Oryx Press. 

- 12 

IFLA. Section of Library Services to Multicultural Populations. 
(1987). Multicultural communities: guidelines for library 
service. The Hague: International Federation of Library 
Associations. 

Library Advisory Council (U.K.). (1976). Public Library Service 
for a Multi-cultural Society. Report produced by a joint party 
of the Advisory Council and the Community Relations 
Commission. N.p. 

Library Association. (1986). Guidance notes on the Code of 
Professional Conduct. London: Library Association. 

Library Association. (1987). Yearbook 1987. London: Library 
Association. 

Lowrie, Wayne. (1992, June 2). Canadians fear racism on the 
rise. The Vancouver Sun, p. A l .  

Mendus, Susan. ( 1990, Oct.). Legal rights can threaten freedoms. 
Index on Censorship, 19, pp. 11-12. 

Mill, John Stuart. (1974). On Liberty. Harmondsworth: Penguin 
Books. 

Milton, John. (195 1). Areopagitica. Northbrook, Illinois: AHM 
Pub. Co. 

Multicultural Services Interest Group. (1986). Guidelines for 
Multicultural Library Services in Canadian Public 
Libraries. Ottawa: Canadian Library Association. 

Mylopoulos, Chryss.  ( 1 9 8 5 ). Trends in multicultural 
programming. Canadian Library Journal, 42, 23-25. 

Neill, S.D. (1988). Censorship: a clash of values. Canadian 
Library Journal, 45, 35-39. 

Neville, Richard. ( 1990, Sept./Oct.). Enough already! How far 
is too far when it comes to freedom of expression? Utne 
Reader, pp. 100-105. 

Price, Neville. (1990, May). Cultural differences and library 
services. Library Association Record, pp. 377-78. 

R. v. Butler. 2 Canada Supreme Court WWR 577 (1992). 
Reference &Adult Services Division (ALA). (1990). Guidelines 

for multilingual materials collection and development and 
library services. RQ, 30(2), 268-271 .  

Right t o  Offend. ( 1993, April 8). The Globe and Mail, p .  A14. 
Schulte-Albert, Hans G. (1984, June). Public library services to 

ethno-cultural minorities. Canadian Library Journal, 41, 
1 15-120. 

Shah, Arona. (1984, Jan.). How to meet the ethnic need. Library 
Association Record, pp. 15- 16. 

Swan, John, & Peattie, Noel. ( 1989). The freedom to lie. 
Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. 

Talbot, Christine. (1990, July). What is a multicultural library 
service? Library Association Record, pp. 501-503. 

Vincent, Isabel. ( 1990, Sept. 25). 'Arts trial of the century' opens 
in Cincinnati. The Globe and Mail, p. A13. 

Woodward, Diana. (1990). A framework for deciding issues in 
ethics. Library Trends, 39( 1  & 2), 8-17. 

Dr. Ann Curry is an Assistant Professor for the School of 
Library, Archiva l,  and Information Studies at The University 
of British Columbia, Vancouver, B .C .  

Education Libraries • Vol 1 9, No. 1