Official+Organizations+and+their+Policies+on+Intellectual+Freedom

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=**__Official Organizations and their Policies on Intellectual Freedom__**= ====Paragraph 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 inclusion of "age" first appeared in 1967, and was reaffirmed by the American Library Association Council in January, 1996 (Stripling et al., 2010; American Library Association, 2011, Library Bill of Rights). Several statements offering interpretations of the Bill of Rights have been developed over the years to specifically address the intellectual freedom of children and young adults. They include:====


 * [|Free Access to Libraries for Minors](adopted in 1972 and most recently amended in 2008)
 * [|Access for Children and Young Adults to Nonprint Materials](adopted in 1989 and amended in 2004)
 * [|Access to Resources in the School Library Media Program] (adopted in 1986 and most recently amended in 2008)
 * [|Minors and Internet Interactivity](adopted in 2009)

Common themes running through these interpretations include: equitable access as an important aspect of the First Amendment rights of minors, the reponsibility of librarians for ensuring equitable access within the constraints of law, and upholding the responsibility of parents to determine what is appropriate material for their own children. Notwithstanding these similar themes, each statement provides contextual details, which can especially be observed in the statements on nonprint materials and the Internet. See more on the Intellectual Freedom For Youth and the Internet in Recent Attempts at Censorship.

Most public and academic libraries have an official policy on censorship and/or intellectual freedom. Each one depends on the institutions take on how to protect- if that is their goal- the rights of the users to information. However not all are openly posted on the library websites. Places to check for these policies include the Lending, Use, Collection, Materials Selection, and Acquisition policy pages.

Here are some examples of policies in some public and academic institutions:
 * Champaign Public Library, Champaign, IL: [|Internet Policy] and [|Materials Selection Policy] (where the ALA Bill of Rights is linked)
 * Council Bluffs Public Library, Council Bluffs IA: [|Library Policies] (Free Access to Libraries for Minors, Freedom to Read/View, etc.)
 * Omaha Public Library, Omaha, NE: [|Collection Policy] (Bill of Rights, Constitution)
 * University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX: [|Lending and Use Policy] (Adopted by ALA Intellectual Freedom)