The Estes Park Public Library affirms that libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies will guide our services.

Books and other library resources will be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of our community. Materials will not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

The Library will provide materials and information presenting various points of view on current and historical issues. Materials will not be banned or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

The Library will challenge censorship in the fulfillment of our responsibility to provide information and enlightenment in conformance with applicable law.

The Library will cooperate with persons and groups concerned with resisting curtailment of free expression and free access to ideas.

A person’s right to use a library will not be denied or curtailed because of origin, age, background, or views in conformance with applicable law.

The Library will make exhibit space and meeting rooms available to the public on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups that request their use.

FREEDOM TO READ

The following Freedom to Read Policy was developed by the American Library Association Council and the Association of American Publishers Freedom to Read Committee.

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those which are unorthodox or unpopular with the majority.
2. Publishers, librarians and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation contained in the books they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what books should be published or circulated.
3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to determine the acceptability of a book on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.
4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.
5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept with any book the prejudgment of a label characterizing the book or author as subversive or dangerous.
6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.
7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.

FREEDOM TO VIEW

The FREEDOM TO VIEW, along with the freedom to speak, to hear, and to read, is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In a free society, there is no place for censorship of any medium of expression. Therefore these principles are affirmed:

1. To provide the broadest possible access to film, video, and other audiovisual materials because they are a means for the communication of ideas. Liberty of circulation is essential to insure the constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.
2. To protect the confidentiality of all individuals and institutions using film, video, and other audiovisual materials.
3. To provide film, video, and other audiovisual materials which represent a diversity of views and expression. Selection of a work does not constitute or imply agreement with or approval of the content.
4. To provide a diversity of viewpoints without the constraint of labeling or prejudging film, video and other audiovisual materials on the basis of the moral, religious, or political beliefs of the producer or filmmaker or on the basis of controversial content.
5. To contest vigorously, by all lawful means, every encroachment upon the public’s freedom to view.

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Please refer to the Collection Development Policy (COL-01) Archive Collection Policy (COL-02) and the Reconsideration Policy (COL-03) for more information.

The Estes Park Public Library Bill of Rights was adopted and approved by the Estes Valley Public Library District Board of Trustees on December 10, 2007.

Barb Lister, President                                                                            Amy Hamrick, Secretary