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idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is <br /> essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of <br /> knowledge and ideas into organized collections. <br /> We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative <br /> culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range <br /> and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe <br /> that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in <br /> order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a <br /> profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers <br /> to choose freely from a variety of offerings. <br /> The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand <br /> firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that <br /> accompany these rights. <br /> We therefore�rm these propositions: <br /> 1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest <br /> diversity of views and eapressions, including those that are unorthodoa, unpopular, <br /> or considered dangerous by the majority. <br /> Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every <br /> new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to <br /> maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges <br /> the esta.blished orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly <br /> strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting <br /> opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the <br /> end of the democratic process.Furthermore,only through the constant activity of weighing <br /> and selecting can the democratic mind atta.in the strength demanded by times like these. <br /> We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it. <br /> 2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or <br /> presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them <br /> to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for <br /> determining what should be published or circulated. <br /> Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available <br /> knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning.They <br /> do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The <br /> people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those <br /> that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong <br /> that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper. <br /> 3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to 6ar access to <br /> writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author. <br /> 14 <br />