Intellectual Freedom Handbook, 1999
Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes and Other
Nonprint Formats:
An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Library collections of videotapes, motion pictures, and other
nonprint formats raise a number of intellectual freedom issues,
especially regarding minors.
The interests of young people, like those of adults, are not limited
by subject, theme, or level of sophistication. Librarians have a
responsibility to ensure young people have access to materials and
services that reflect diversity sufficient to meet their needs.
To guide librarians and others in resolving these issues, the
American Library Association provides the following guidelines.
Article V of the Library
Bill of Rights says, "A person's right to use a library
should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or
views."
ALA's Free
Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of
Rights states:
- The "right to use a library" includes free access to,
and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities
the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use
of, library resources, based solely on the chronological age,
educational level, or legal emancipation of users violates Article
V.
- . . .[P]arents - and only parents - have the right and the
responsibility to restrict the access of their children - and only
their children - to library resources. Parents or legal guardians
who do not want their children to have access to certain library
services, materials or facilities, should so advise their children.
Librarians and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or
the functions of parental authority in the private relationship
between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies have a
public and professional obligation to provide equal access to all
library resources for all library users.
Policies which set minimum age limits for access to videotapes and/or
other audiovisual materials and equipment, with or without parental
permission, abridge library use for minors. Further, age limits based on
the cost of the materials are unacceptable. Unless directly and
specifically prohibited by law from circulating certain motion pictures
and video productions to minors, librarians should apply the same
standards to circulation of these materials as are applied to books and
other materials.
Recognizing that libraries cannot act in loco parentis, ALA
acknowledges and supports the exercise by parents of their
responsibility to guide their own children's reading and viewing.
Published reviews of films and videotapes and/or reference works which
provide information about the content, subject matter, and recommended
audiences can be made available in conjunction with nonprint collections
to assist parents in guiding their children without implicating the
library in censorship. This material may include information provided by
video producers and distributors, promotional material on videotape
packaging, and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings if
they are included on the tape or in the packaging by the original
publisher and/or if they appear in review sources or reference works
included in the library's collection. Marking out or removing ratings
information from videotape packages constitutes expurgation or
censorship.
MPAA and other rating services are private advisory codes and have no
legal standing*. For the library to add such ratings to the materials if
they are not already there, to post a list of such ratings with a
collection, or to attempt to enforce such ratings through circulation
policies or other procedures constitutes labeling, "an attempt to
prejudice attitudes" about the material, and is unacceptable. The
application of locally generated ratings schemes intended to provide
content warnings to library users is also inconsistent with the Library
Bill of Rights.
*For information on case law, please contact the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom.
See also: Statement
on Labeling and Expurgation
of Library Materials, Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.
Adopted June 28, 1989, by the ALA Council; the quotation from FREE
ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS was changed after Council adopted the
July 3, 1991, revision of that Interpretation.
[ISBN 8389-7351-5]
Copyright (c) 1999, American Library Association.
