Defining Intellectual Freedom and How It Supports Democracy and Promotes Innovation:

Intellectual freedom is defined by the American Library Association as “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be explored.” When an individual seeks information they are not under a societal or governmental restraint of what they have the right to expand their knowledge of. It is an essential human right that makes our country both unique and free with expression.

 The ALA maintains the democratic foundation of intellectual freedom. Democracy is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly…” According to Dr. Richard Fitzsimmons of The Pennsylvania State University in his paper Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, Librarianship and the Democratic State the Committee on Intellectual Freedom of the ALA “[has the responsibility of] guarding, protecting, defending, and extending intellectual freedom. It performs a ‘backstopping’ function for the Library Bill of Rights and stands firm on the ALA statement that ‘Censorship of books, urged or practiced by volunteer arbiters of morals or political opinion or by organizations that would establish a coercive concept of Americanism, must be challenged by libraries in maintenance of their responsibility to provide public enlightenment through the printed word."

The ALA’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2015 presented at the 2010 ALA Annual Conference and adopted by the ALA Executive Board on April 25, 2010 and by the ALA Council on June 28, 2010 defines and updates the definition of intellectual freedom as “a basic right in a democratic society and a core value of the library profession. The American Library Association actively defends the right of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment.” Innovation on the other hand, is defined by Wikipedia as “the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments and society.” One of the “goal areas” of the ALA’s Strategic Plan 2011-2015 is dedicated to “transforming libraries” and its statement reads “ALA provides leadership in the transformation of libraries and library services in a dynamic and increasingly global digital information environment.” To accomplish this four objectives have been identified and they are “(1) Increase opportunities to share innovative practices and concepts across the profession, nationally and internationally, and among all libraries. (2) Increase recognition of and support for experimentation with innovative and transformational ideas. (3) Help libraries make use of new and emerging technologies by promoting and supporting technological experimentation and innovation. (4) Increase leadership development and training opportunities designed to support the ongoing transformation of libraries.” The plan also describes how the ALA perceives the future transformation of libraries and the profession of librarianship in response to “changing needs, expectations, demographics, and technologies of the populations they serve,” by recognizing the connection of “people and ideas to each other and to the world.”

References

American Library Association. (2010). American Library Association: Strategic Plan 2011-2015. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/missionhistory/plan/index.cfm.

Fitzsimmons, R. (1996). Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, Librarianship and the Democratic State. Retrieved from http://archive.ifla.org/faife/papers/others/fitz96.htm.