Policy Statement
The collection of the Rampart Library District (including but not limited to books, periodicals, databases, music CDs, audio books, videos and DVDs) is available to all patrons. The library is not responsible for which materials a patron selects for check out. It is the responsibility of parents and legal guardians to guide their children in the selection and use of any library resources.
The Rampart Library District follows the American Library Association’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors, An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights, as originally adopted in 1972 and amended July 1, 1981, July 3, 1991, June 30, 2004, and July 02, 2008 by the American Library Association Council.
Free Access to Libraries for Minors
Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.” 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, unless otherwise restricted by federal or state law. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely on the chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation of users violates Article V.
Libraries are charged with the mission of developing resources to meet the diverse information needs and interests of the communities they serve. Services, materials, and facilities that fulfill the needs and interests of library users at different stages in their personal development are a necessary part of library resources. The needs and interests of each library user, and resources appropriate to meet those needs and interests, must be determined on an individual basis. Librarians cannot predict what resources will best fulfill the needs and interests of any individual user based on a single criterion such as chronological age, educational level, literacy skills, or legal emancipation.
Libraries should not limit the selection and development of library resources simply because minors will have access to them. Institutional self-censorship diminishes the credibility of the library in the community, and restricts access for all library users.
Children and young adults unquestionably possess First Amendment rights, including the right to receive information in the library. Constitutionally protected speech cannot be suppressed solely to protect children or young adults from ideas or images a legislative body believes to be unsuitable for them. Librarians and library governing bodies should not resort to age restrictions in an effort to avoid actual or anticipated objections, because only a court of law can determine whether material is not constitutionally protected.
The mission, goals, and objectives of libraries cannot authorize librarians or library governing bodies to assume, abrogate, or overrule the rights and responsibilities of parents. As “Libraries:
An American Value” states, “We affirm the responsibility and the right of all parents and [legal] guardians to guide their own children’s use of the library and its resources and services.” Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents or [legal guardians], and only parents [or legal guardians], have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children, and only their children, to library resources. Parents and [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 library governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent [or legal guardian] and child.
Lack of access to information can be harmful to minors. Librarians and library governing bodies have a public and professional obligation to ensure that all members of the community they serve have free, equal, and equitable access to the entire range of library resources regardless of content, approach, format, or amount of detail. This principle of library service applies equally to all users, minors as well as adults. Librarians and library governing bodies must uphold this principle in order to provide adequate and effective service to minors.
Concerns about the Patron Access to the Collection Policy must be presented in writing with specifics to the Library Director. Please provide your name and contact information. The Library District may amend or supplement this policy from time to time and reserves the right to do so.
Approved by the Rampart Library District Board of Trustees on March 15, 2006. Reviewed November 12, 2019, December 14th,2020, December 2021.