LIS 600: Values and Practice of LIS Vreeland

Alexis Vreeland
November 13, 2019

Values and Practice of LIS

What is the library bill of rights?

The Library Bill of Rights is the American Library Association’s written statement that

expresses the rights of library users to intellectual freedom and the expectations that American

Library Association places on libraries to support these rights (American Library Association,

2006). The Library Bill of Rights was adopted by the American Library Association Council on

June 19, 1939 and has been amended five times since (American Library Association, 2006). An

additional article on privacy was recently added in 2019 (Price, 2019).

The Bill of Rights starts with the following statement, “The American Library

Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following

basic policies should guide their service” (American Library Association, 2006). The bill then

lists the seven articles, ranging from books and resources to censorship, user rights, and

availability of spaces.

While the Bill of Right contains “unambiguous statements of basic principles that should

govern the service of all libraries”, the American Library Association does note that questions

can and will arise concerning the “application of these principles to specific library practice”

(American Library Association, 2007). The Bill of Rights itself is concise with its brief

introduction and seven articles which are further expanded upon in the additional document

provided by the ALA referred to as the “Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights” (American

Library Association, 2007). This document aims to elaborate on the application of these

principles in relation to specific library practices (American Library Association, 2007).

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Interpretation of Article IV

To elaborate further on one interpretation of the Bill of Rights, this paper will look into

meeting rooms. Article IV of the Library Bill of Rights states, “Libraries which make … meeting

rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable

basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use”

(American Library Association, 2006). The interpretation notes that while the library does not

advocate or endorse the viewpoints expressed in meetings by the users, staff or users may feel

fear or discomfort with the room usage. To navigate this, the interpretation states that “Libraries

should adopt and enforce user behavior policies that protect library users and staff from

harassment while maintaining their historic support for the freedom of speech” (American

Library Association, 2006).

Furthermore, publicly funded libraries are not obligated to provide meeting room space(s)

to the public, but if they choose to do so, spaces are considered designated public forums and

libraries “may not exclude any group based on the subject matter to be discussed or the ideas for

which the group advocates” (American Library Association, 2006). Policies regarding meeting

room usage should be developed which define time, place, and manner of use, and should eb

reviewed regularly with staff and made available to the public.

Lastly, if meeting rooms and spaces are open to the public, libraries should include a

section in their policy that addresses fees. The interpretation states, “charging fees does not

change the status of meeting rooms and spaces as designated public forums” (American Library

Association, 2006). However, charging feeds for the use of the library’s meeting rooms or

facilities “may abridge or deny access for some community members” (American Library

Association, 2006).

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Rift Between Values and Practice?

This last point is what I wish to focus more on. I think charging fees for meeting room

use can price out some potential users from using this community space. Depending on the needs

of the community and the background of the population, some or all of the community might not

be able to afford spaces that charge fees. At my library, Orange County Public Library, there is

no fee to use the meeting room, regardless of who is using it or the status of their organization.

At the Chapel Hill Public Library in Chapel Hill, NC, only some users have to pay for

their rooms. Community and Non-Profit groups that hold open meetings do not have to pay for

the rooms, but if they hold closed meetings, like trainings, they must pay. Furthermore, political

parties do not pay for the room if they are holding “annual or biennial precinct meetings and

county and district conventions” but have to pay for after-hours use, certain before-hours use,

kitchen use, and on-site staff use. Lastly, private groups and individuals holding any meetings

have to pay for the use of these spaces. While this might be an okay process in theory, their

rental prices are quite steep. To use rooms A or B, it is $150 per hour. To use room C or D, it is

$30 per hour. Room C holds up to 26 people, whereas room D holds up to 12 people.

On the flip side, many libraries around the country are turning to a wide variety of

revenue-generating strategies to ensure financial security in the wake of increasing funding cuts.

This includes charging for meeting room rentals, classes, and even coffee shops. If income

production isn’t in the cards for some libraries, they may turn to trimming costs, sometimes the

most logical back up plan in situations like these (Dempsey, 2010).

Furthermore, there needs to be an assessment in each community to make sure that the

library is meeting their end of the bargain in their relationship between themselves and their

communities. If they are not, and things such as fees are getting in the way of their usefulness to

their intended users, then their strategies need to be reevaluated (Jaeger, 1999). As stated in the

Bill of Rights, libraries that make their meeting rooms available to the public should make them

available on an equitable basis, and this includes wealth (American Library Association, 2006).

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Work Cited
Dempsey, B. (2010). Survey on Fees for Library Services: For Love or Money. Library Journal,
135(15), 20-23.

Jaeger, J. (1999). User fees, community goods, and the public library. Public library quarterly,
17(2), 49-62.

Price, G. "ALA: "New Library Bill of Rights Provision Recognizes and Defends Library Users'
Privacy". Library Journal. Retrieved November 11, 2019.

"Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights", American Library Association, July 30, 2007.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations (Accessed November 12,
2019)

"Library Bill of Rights", American Library Association, June 30, 2006.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill (Accessed November 12, 2019)

"Meeting Rooms: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights", American Library

Association, July 26, 2006.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/meetingrooms (Accessed
November 12, 2019)

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