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The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for <br /> that reader's purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive <br /> provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. <br /> Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down,and the <br /> principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of � <br /> all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties,and deserves of all Americans the , <br /> fullest of their support. <br /> We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty � <br /> claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of � <br /> enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the I <br /> application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression <br /> that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comforta.ble belief <br /> that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; <br /> that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. <br /> Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life,but it is ours. <br /> i <br /> 16 <br />