3 Gateways to Freedom: Libraries and the New Millennium

The Index on Censorship, founded in the conviction that freedom of speech, along with the allied freedoms of con-science and religion, are fundamental human rights that the world community has a duty to guard, reports regularly on censorship in every issue of the magazine. After a brief sur-vey of classic censorship, the author points out that the con-centration of ownership in the media has affected the extent to which minorities are heard. For any concept of human rights to be universally accepted and globally enforced, equal respect and mutual comprehension between rival cul-tures is demanded. Hate speech, political correctness and the dangers of making exceptions to the absolute right to free speech are covered. The author concludes with the role the library has in supporting and disseminating the impor-tance of free expression. Libraries can be places where 1) dialogue takes place; 2) the diversity of cultural lives is displayed; 3) the right to choose is pre-eminent; 4) people can be guided through information which some might find offensive; and 5) freedom of expression is taught and people are encouraged to know their own rights