Clarifying Intellectual Freedom, Neutrality, and Professional Expertise to Better Defend Libraries from Books Bans, Disinformation, and Defunding

When the Library Bill of Rights was adopted in 1939, it represented a significant departure from the many professional goals and ideals articulated when the American Library Association had been founded in 1876. In creating new professional ideals of intellectual freedom and neutrality, the Library Bill of Rights reoriented the field and altered the responsibilities of libraries to their communities. However, the poorly defined nature of some of these ideals has created continuing problems for the field, problems that are particularly evident in the current political environment heavily defined by censorship and disinformation. As the 150th anniversary of the American Library Association will occur in 2026, this paper explores the ways these issues were debated at the time of the 100th anniversary of the American Library Association as a lens for examining the significant current ramifications of these unresolved issues.