Libraries and the First Amendment

Megan Hamby
INFO 266
5/6/16

Klinefelter, A. (2010). First Amendment limits on library collection management. Law Library Journal. 102(3), 343-374. Retrieved from http://libaccess.sjlibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ofm&AN=502171368&site=ehost-live

This article discusses issues that arise between public and law libraries and the First Amendment. It addresses First Amendment boundaries with collection policies and management and presents cases in which problems regarding censorship and equal protection. Publicly funded libraries have a lot more freedom when it comes to their collection policy. The types of libraries discussed in the article tend to uphold the First Amendment because they are committed to providing full access of information and noncensorship.  In the case Board of Education v. Pico, one school board decided to remove books they deemed as inappropriate and anti-Semitic among other reasons. Some students in the school district ended up filing a suit citing a violation of free speech. The article points out that publicly funded libraries should not practice such policies of banning books in order to avoid issues with the First Amendment. According to the article, “intent to suppress access to ideas may be the same as invidious viewpoint discrimination” (371). I thought this was an interesting article because it made me wonder how libraries weed their collections to fit their collection policy but still uphold the United States First Amendment.

Creating a Community Resource Guide

Layne, Julia

Bay Area Library and Information Network. (2015, August). How to create a community resource
     guide. BayNet Newsletter, 2(1), 3-4. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1lI5qhV

Summary:

A community in San Francisco worked to create a resource guide in several languages that would help connect people of all walks of life to services they may need and otherwise have a hard time finding on their own. While the local library of this community was not involved with the actual creation of the document itself, it was a central meeting place and distribution location for the volunteers who did put it together. The guide is available both online and in print.

Analysis:

This guide was created through the use of both Google Docs and Google Slides - which reminded me a lot of this class and the collaborative nature of it. A free community resource guide would be a valuable offering for any library to offer. Compiling this information into one easy to reference guide is a great idea and well worth the effort to put together. The non-profit organization that worked on this project also offers tips on how to create such a resource in a library, which can be found here: http://www.techsoupforlibraries.org/.