Freedom to Read Statement

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The Freedom to Read Statement was orchestrated by the American Library Association's Unite Against Book Bans campaign to thwart parents and citizens from pushing back against graphic sexual and deceptive Critical Race Theory content being available in the classroom and at school libraries.[1]

The original Freedom to Read Statement issued in May of 1953 in response to Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigation into communist content being promoted in the United States Department of State's Overseas Libraries, which employed known Communist Party USA member Howard Fast.

Original Freedom to Read Statement

The original "Freedom to Read Statement, issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers, was a rebuttal to Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigation[2] of the United States Department of State's Overseas Libraries, which was run by the United States Office of War Information,[3] which employed Communist Party USA member Howard Fast.[4] William S. Dix was the main author of the original Freedom to Read Statement, along with IFC Executive Secretary Paul Bixler.

Contemporary Freedom to Read Statement

The "Freedom to Read Statement" was designed to fight against parents and citizens who object to the blatant indoctrination of children through highly sexual and otherwise inappropriate material being offered in public school libraries. [5]

The statement reads in part:

"Recognizing that the battle to preserve our freedoms is as old as the freedoms themselves, the American Library Association and the Association of American Publishers have reconvened on this 70th Anniversary of the Freedom to Read statement to reaffirm its timeless message, joined by the Authors Guild and American Booksellers Association. Together, we recommit to the proposition that the freedom to read is essential to our democracy and the birthright of all persons regardless of their beliefs or political persuasion.

Signatories

Publishers And Organizations

Authors

References

  1. ↑ The Freedom to Read Statement (Accessed September 10, 2023)
  2. ↑ The Overseas Libraries Controversy and the Freedom to Read: U.S. Librarians and Publishers Confront Joseph McCarthy (Accessed September 10, 2023)
  3. ↑ USIS Libraries (Accessed September 10, 2023)
  4. ↑ The Forgotten Prison on Kennison Mountain - Part 3 of 4 (Accessed September 10, 2023)
  5. ↑ Freedom to Read (Accessed September 10, 2023)
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