日本図書館協会 > 図書館の自由委員会 > 図書館の自由に関する宣言 1979年改定 英文

Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries

Revised in 1979
Japan Library Association

It is the most important responsibility of libraries to offer collected materials and library facilities to the people who have the Right to Know as one of their fundamental human rights.

1. The Constitution of Japan promulgated in 1946 is based on the principle that the sovereignty of the country resides with the people. In order to maintain and develop the principle, it is necessary that each one of the people is able to enjoy the right of free speech and of exchanging ideas in the society. It means that guaranteeing the freedom of expression is indispensable.
 The freedom to know and the freedom of expression are two sides of the same coin. The freedom of expression guarantees the freedom of the sender, but without guaranteeing the freedom to know as its pretext, the freedom of expression cannot be realized.
 The freedom to know, moreover, is closely related to the freedom of thought, of conscience, and all other fundamental human rights, and is a basic factor of securing these freedom and rights. The Constitution prescribes(Article 12)that the freedom and rights guaranteed in it shall be maintained by the constant endeavor of the people. The freedom to know shall also be maintained by the similar endeavor of the people prescribed in the Constitution.

2. All the people have the right of access to library materials whenever they need them. Guaranteeing the right is nothing but guaranteeing the freedom to know as a social system. Libraries are the organizations having full responsibility to ensure the freedom to know.

3. Libraries shall not be impeded by power of governing authorities or social pressure, and shall guarantee full access to library collections and their physical facilities to the people, by clearly recognizing their responsibility and by actively performing all they can provide including library cooperation.

4. In our country, we shall not forget the history of libraries by the end of World WarU because libraries contributed much to the government policy of thought-guidance, and resulted in slowing the development of the people’s freedom to know. Based on such self-examination, we have to confirm now that libraries are responsible for guaranteeing and developing the freedom to know.

5. All the people have equal right in using libraries, and their rights should not be discriminated because of their race, creed, sex, age, and their various conditions in the society.
 The right is also guaranteed for people coming from abroad.

6. The principles of“Freedom of Libraries”stated here are to guarantee the people’s freedom to know, and they can be basically applied to situations in all the libraries.

In order to fulfill their mission, libraries shall recognize the following matters as their proper duties, and shall put them into practice.

Article 1 : Libraries have freedom in collecting their materials.

1. Libraries shall respond to all user inquiries for library materials as the organization for guaranteeing people’s freedom to know.

2. Libraries select and collect library materials based on an acquisition policy statement compiled by each library.

 In acquiring materials,

  (1) In selecting books on a controversial subject, libraries shall collect a wide range of books representing different viewpoints.
  (2) Libraries shall not exclude books from their collection on the pretext of the author’s thought, religious or political viewpoints.
  (3) Library materials shall not be selected by the librarians’ personal interests.
  (4) The freedom of acquisition shall not surrender to the pressure or interference of an individual person, organization or group of people, or shall not be hampered by librarians’ self-regulation derived from their concern about making the library a target of crucial discussion.
  (5) The above mentioned shall be applied to acquiring donated books.

  Various opinions are introduced and asserted in the materials acquired in the library. However peculiar they might be, selecting these books does not mean that these viewpoints are supported by the library and librarians.

3. Libraries shall publicize a written statement of their acquisition policy and shall endeavor to encourage criticism and cooperation with the people in society.

Article 2 : Libraries secure the freedom of offering their materials.

1. In order to guarantee the people’s freedom to know, all library materials, in principle, shall be offered for free use of people.
 Without any appropriate reason, libraries shall not treat materials differently by erasing the text, withdrawing them from the shelves, or discarding them from the library.
 Restrictions to the freedom to offer library materials shall be applied only to the following occasions.  These restrictions shall be exercised as limited in scope as possible, and after a certain period of time, the decisions shall be re-examined.

  (1) Violation of human rights or privacy.
  (2) A book was judged to be as an obscene publication.
  (3) The non-publicized materials in the donated or deposited collection, which the donator or the depositor does not allow to be offered to the public.

2. Libraries shall have a duty of preserving their materials for present and future use. The preserved materials shall not be weeded out from libraries by a feeble argument from the society or by pressure or interference from a private individual, any organization or a group of people.

3. Assembly rooms and other meeting facilities in libraries have a different feature from those in other organizations because they have an organized, rich collection in the building which is meant to offer independent studies or creative works to the people whenever they need to use them.
 Libraries shall offer meeting facilities for the use of people either individuals or groups without discrimination, except for any profit making purposes.

4. Meetings or projects planned by libraries shall not be changed by the pressure or interference from a private individual, an organization or a group of people.

Article 3 : Libraries guarantee the privacy of users.

1. What book a particular person has read or is reading shall be regarded as the privacy of the reader. Libraries shall not reveal a reader’s record of reading, except upon warrant issued by a competent judicial officer provided in the Constitution(Article 35).

2. Libraries shall not violate a readers’ privacy by revealing any record of using the library in addition to the record of reading.

3. Librarians happen to know, when they are performing their duties, about the record of reading and of using the library of a particular user. No library worker shall disclose these facts, but secure the privacy of users.

Article 4 : Libraries oppose any type of censorship categorically.

1. Censorship has been practiced from time to time by governing authorities aiming to suppress the freedom of thought and speech of the people. A democratic society is founded on the freedom to know, and censorship has no room in such a society.
 Censorship regulates libraries’ acquisition activities in advance, and it further results in withdrawing materials from the shelves and discarding the from the library collection. Libraries have had such bitter experiences and many examples of them were found clearly in the history and in the experiences of the people.
 Consequently, libraries categorically oppose against any type of censorship.

2. Similar effect with censorship will be given by pressure and interference from a private individual, organization or group of people. Libraries shall oppose any type of suppression of thought and speech.

3. This suppression is easy to cause self-regulation by librarians, and they tend to avoid acquiring books on controversial subjects. Libraries shall not be hampered by such a self-regulation but shall ensure people’s freedom to know.

When the freedom of libraries is imperiled, we librarians will work together and devote ourselves to secure the freedom.

1. Freedom of libraries can be an important indicator of evaluating the development of democracy in a country. Whenever the freedom is going to be violated, we, who are very concerned about developing libraries for the people, will react to the violation together. In order to organize such a professional reaction, it is indispensable that we constantly manage libraries in a democratic way and develop esprit de corps among library workers toward this goal.

2. The action of ensuring the freedom of libraries is a part of the struggle of ensuring the freedom and human rights. We are responsible to secure the freedom of libraries by cooperating with groups of people, organizations and private individuals who would share similar objectives with us.

3. Support and cooperation of the people can be obtained only from the people who have experienced the precious value of the freedom of libraries through their library experiences. In order to secure such support and cooperation, we shall devote ourselves to developing daily library services.

4. In the activities ensuring the freedom of libraries, librarians who eagerly worked for the freedom might be treated unfavorably by an authoritarian viewpoint of their governing body. To prevent such a political and personnel treatment beforehand, or at the worst, after it was taken, the Japan Library Association will extend a helping hand to the person who suffered by the treatment. It will be regarded as one of the important roles of the association.


この訳文は,ブランチ・ウールス博士(アメリカ合衆国カリフォルニア州立サンノゼ大学図書館情報学部大学院長)の校閲を得た。
ここに記して深く感謝の意を表する。

(日本図書館協会 2003.12改訳)

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