INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM --
AN ENDANGERED CONCEPT?
Learn from Loudoun County's experiences with religious right attempts to influence library policy.
In a letter to the editor of the Eastern Loudoun Times on 10/20/94, Library Trustee Adaline Glazer attacked members of the former library board calling them "left-wing, politically motivated, irreligious, immoral, radical elitists." (Ms. Glazer has since moved from Loudoun County.) This letter was one of the opening shots in an attempt by the trustees to change library policies to bring them into line with the agenda of the political religious right. Since then, Mainstream Loudoun has been challenging the library trustees whenever they threaten our First Amendment rights.
REMOVAL OF ALA BILL OF RIGHTS FROM LIBRARY POLICY
- Public libraries are under fire from the religious right, and Loudoun County's library system was the first victim. Read the Case Study to learn how religious right forces weakened our protections against censorship by removing the ALA Bill of Rights from library policy, how Mainstream Loudoun [or Agents of Satan as we were called] reacted, and why library censorship remains a threat.
- On January 17, 2000, the newly configured Loudoun County Library Board of Trustees voted five-to-three to reinstate the American Library Association's Bill of Rights and Freedom to Read statement, five years after the documents had been removed from Loudoun County's library policy. Read about the discussion and votes.
Mainstream Loudoun received the 1995 Virginia Library Association - SIRS Intellectual Freedom Award for our defense of the American Library Association Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read policies in Loudoun County's libraries.
- Read how library censorship played a role in the decision of one of Loudoun County's supervisors to run for office as an Independent.
INTERNET POLICY LAWSUIT
- On December 22, 1997, Mainstream Loudoun, in conjunction with People for the American Way and the D.C. law firm of Hogan and Hartson, filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to halt implementation of the Loudoun County Library Board of Trustees' unconstitutional Internet policy. On November 23, 1998, Judge Brinkema issued a summary judgment that declared the policy unconstitutional in every respect. Read the chronology of our actions and the resulting decisions on our Internet Lawsuit page.
- Because our lawsuit set a precedent for Internet access in public libraries across the United States, Mainstream Loudoun has received a number of awards for its fight against censorship.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
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Family Friendly Libraries is a nationwide organization that works with other religious right groups to establish restrictions on library materials. Learn about their philosophy, goals and motivations.
- The religious right attacks the ALA (American Library Association) because of its strong anti-censorship stand.
Do you follow the actions of your local library board? Have "anti-pornography" groups begun campaigns in your locality to "protect women and children"?
Be aware, be informed, and be willing to act.
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