Intellectual freedom and social responsibility in American librarianship, 1967-1974

Toni Samek

"Between 1967 and 1974, librarians came together to push for change in the American Library Association. Prompting their fellow professionals to examine even their basic assumptions about librarianship and the cultural terrain it defends, these supporters of librarianly social responsibility questioned the checks against intellectual freedom that, as professionals pursued other, perhaps equally worthy goals, had arisen unbidden and unnoticed.". "Dissension and turmoil followed, as librarians argued either for the traditional concept of professional neutrality, the provision of informaion for all sides without taking sides, or for the new philosophy that held librarians to be agents of social change." "This book presents a thoughtful summary of the years of ferment and the political infighting that raged within the ALA and that continues unabated within the ranks of library...

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