"History repeats itself" is a phrase often thrown around during times of uncertainty and is particularly relevant today when considering attempts at censorship and threats to intellectual freedom in libraries across the United States. The Second Red Scare era was a time that defined intellectual freedom for the American people and the library's role in standing up against censorship attempts. Today, we are seeing similar attempts at censorship in our libraries across the US.
This session will explore how the role of the librarian was redefined during the Second Red Scare Era of American History when McCarthyism, fears of communism, fascism, and consumption of "Un-American" propaganda spread like wildfire across the nation. These fears led to countless censorship attempts from both private groups and governmental bodies against libraries. During this time, the ALA strengthened its authority by empowering librarians to promote intellectual freedom at their libraries and adopting the Library Bill of Rights and The Freedom to Read Statement.
The audience will explore the transformation of the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statements from their creation to how these documents are used in libraries today. We will consider the origins of the Library Bill of Rights by Des Moines librarian, Forrest B. Spaulding, in 1938, as a response to book banning. And its later revisions during the Second Red Scare to further promote intellectual freedom. Likewise, we will explore the roots of the Freedom to Read Statement and its creation as a response to groups attempting to censor materials in libraries deemed to be subversive and to further restrict intellectual freedom, and how this document is relevant today.
Participants will be able to identify the relevance of the Freedom to Read Statement and the Library Bill of Rights as they relate to issues of modern-day censorship attempts. Participants will be able to describe the parallels between the Cold War-era censorship in libraries and current-day censorship attempts. Participants will be able to evaluate modern censorship efforts and utilize the ALA, Library Bill of Rights, and the Freedom to Read Statement to help advocate for these efforts.
