IN DEPTH
CILIP – standing up for intellectual freedom
Intellectual freedom has long been at the core of library and knowledge work and collecting, and has been at the heart of the work of CILIP and its predecessor organisations. Here Martyn Wade, Chair of CILIP Policy Committee, looks at why it is as important as ever and how you can get involved.
IN 1889, Thomas Lyster, then Presi- dent of the Library Association, said “In a great library all things, good and evil, fall into their places, are seen in the just light and proportion, and the totality of the record of human thought and feeling is a witness for what is wholesome, true and good.” Paul Sturges, a long time advocate of intel- lectual freedom, and founding Chair of the International Federation of Library Associ- ations and Institutions Advisory Committee of Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (IFLA FAIFE), writes that Lyster “sums up the role of libraries in access to information and ideas. Libraries should hold material representing all varieties of expression, without the inter- ference of censors, because that will place readers themselves in the position to form a well-informed judgement on what is good and what is harmful”, and that as active repositories of knowledge they have a clear and important role to play in the struggle against censorship.2
Today the challenges to intellectual free- dom come from a growing range of sources and directions, in what can be a vociferous and often highly politicised environment. Whilst always a topic of lively debate in CILIP, an impetus to discussions on intellectual freedom was provided by the establishment in late 2020 of a new Policy Committee, reporting to the Board. The Policy Committee is tasked with advising the Board and supporting their
44 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Martyn Wade is Chair, CILIP Policy Committee.
work “to ensure that CILIP is able to fulfil its leadership role for the library, informa- tion and knowledge profession by establish- ing clear and consistent policies to guide and support key aspects of sector develop- ment.”
The new Policy Committee was asked to look at updating CILIP’s Statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to Informa- tion and Censorship, originally published in 2005.
Events in recent years have demonstrated a marked trend of increasing challenge to intellectual freedom, whether from the Gov- ernment, political and social commentators or others with vested interests, including the fringes of the so-called “war on woke”, “culture war” and “cancel culture”. This increasingly partisan view on
intellectual freedom has been accompanied by the growth of misinformation and fake
April-May 2022
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