Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Abstract
Although librarians have traditionally defended intellectual freedom, the American Library Association (ALA) tends to treat it as a local management issue. As librarianship has become increasingly technical defense of intellectual freedom has diminished. Censorship generates self-censorship and demonstrates a subservient relation to authority detrimental to collection development. Using instances from his professional life, the author argues that censorship infantilizes patrons, discourages critical thinking, and is counterproductive to institutions of higher learning.