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

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