US publishers, librarians and booksellers join to affirm their commitment to Freedom to Read statement

As censorship threats continue to target libraries, schools, publishers, authors, and booksellers in the United States, the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP) are calling on all members of the book community to affirm their commitment to the Freedom to Read Statement on its 70th anniversary. They are joined by the Authors Guild and American Booksellers Association (ABA).

First published on 25th June, 1953, the Freedom to Read Statement begins: “The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack.” 

The groups cite more than 60 state bills introduced in the past year that would restrict what Americans may read. “Many of these efforts are unquestionably unconstitutional and would impair the First Amendment rights of readers of all ages” they said.  

In a joint statement, Tracie D Hall, executive director of the ALA, Allison K Hill, c.e.o. of the ABA, Maria A Pallante, president and c.e.o. of the AAP, and Mary Rasenberger, c.e.o. of the Authors Guild, said: “Seventy years ago, fear, suspicion and suppression fuelled by McCarthyism was at a fever pitch—a serious situation that required a robust and vigorous affirmation of intellectual freedom and the constitutional protections that protect it. Today, as we grapple with a new wave of censorship in schools, libraries, and bookstores targeting a wide range of expression, including fiction and non-fiction, the Freedom to Read Statement remains an important defence of the freedom to write, publish and inquire. 

“Our democracy is based on the belief that every person’s right to read is indispensable to their personal and political pursuit of happiness. This fact is indisputable.  American democracy has always depended on the lawful dissemination and rigorous protection of speech—from all political quarters and all personal perspectives, both old and new ideas.   

“To be clear, not every expression of authorship will withstand the rigorous and sustained scrutiny of the marketplace of ideas, but our free society requires that we have the right to make up our own minds about what we choose to read and what we think of what we’ve read.  As our predecessors stated in 1953: ‘Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.’ 

“As we celebrate this anniversary, we are mindful not only of the rights of readers, but of the nation’s authors, publishing houses, bookstores and libraries, whose missions both reflect and are in service to our free society.”