American public libraries operate in a wide variety of communities, and it is not surprising that they do not all view their mission identically.  Nor are their practices uniform.  Nevertheless, they generally share a common mission – to provide patrons with a wide range of information and ideas.  Public libraries across the country have endorsed the American Library Association’s ("Ala”) “Library Bill of Rights” and/or “Freedom to Read Statement,” including every library testifying on behalf of the defendants in this case.  The “Library Bill of Rights,” first adopted by the Ala in 1948, provides, among other things, that “[b]ooks and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves.”  It also states that libraries “should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues” and that library materials “should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”  The ALA’s “Freedom to Read” statement, adopted in 1953 and most recently updated in July 2000, states, among other things, that “[i]t is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.”  It also states that “[i]t is the responsibility of . . . librarians . . . to contest encroachments upon th[e] freedom [to read] by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.”

Public libraries provide information not only for educational purposes, but also for recreational, professional, and other purposes.  For example, Ginnie Cooper, Director of the Multnomah County Library, testified that some of the library’s most popular items include video tapes of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s “Fawlty Towers” series, and also print and “books on tape” versions of science fiction, romance, and mystery novels.  Many public libraries include sexually explicit materials in their print collection, such as The Joy of Sex and The Joy of Gay Sex.  Very few public libraries, however, collect more graphic sexually explicit materials, such as XXX-rated videos, or Hustler magazine.  The mission of public librarians is to provide their patrons with a wide array of information, and they surely do so.  Reference librarians across America answer more than 7 million questions weekly.  If a patron has a specialized need for information not available in the public library, the professional librarian will use a reference interview to find out what information is needed to help the user, including the purpose for which an item will be used.  Reference librarians are trained to assist patrons without judging the patron’s purpose in seeking information, or the content of the information that the patron is seeking.