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"IF Matters" is a new column with this issue of School Library Media Activities Monthly. It will discuss issues related to intellectual freedom in library media centers and will alternate with the "Privacy Matters" column.
According to the American Library Association (ALA), "Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction" (OIF, xv). Intellectual freedom is one of the core beliefs of librarians and includes access to information, First Amendment liberties, and the right to privacy in using library facilities, resources, and services.
Library media specialists take responsibility for promoting and maintaining students' intellectual freedom seriously. They are the schools' resident intellectual freedom experts-the persons with the most knowledge about the strong link between students' free speech rights under the First Amendment and unrestricted patron use of the library media center's print collection, electronic resources, and the Internet.
Intellectual freedom is not a fuzzy concept but rather has its basis in the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances"(U. S. Bill of Rights). In the First Amendment, freedom of speech refers to more than oral communication and has been interpreted as including...