INTERVIEW
CILIP Conference 2023
Controversial materials in libraries and what to do about them
Controversy is never far away from Professor Louise Cooke – it is a subject that has informed her work, research and teaching since she began life as a librarian. Now emeritus Professor of Information and Knowledge Management at Loughborough University, she talks to Rob Green about censorship and managing controversial materials in libraries, ahead of her appearance at CILIP’s new look Conference on 12-13 July – book and fi nd out more at
https://cilipconference.org.uk.
LOUISE Cooke will be joining speak- ers at this year’s CILIP Conference, where she will be discussing how and why libraries need to be aware of their responsibilities around “contro- versial materials” that they hold. As well as an ethical dilemma there are also legal implications to consider, meaning ser- vice leaders need to be sure of their policies and ensure staff are following guidelines. Louise says: “A good understanding of ethical analytical thinking is a strong basis on which to reach appropriate solutions to ethical dilemmas faced by librarians: whether this is based on the principle of utilitarianism (the pursuit of greatest happiness and least harm), or on Kantian/deontological princi- ples (i.e. examining the inherent ‘rightness’ or ‘wrongness’ of a particular course of action based on an agreed set of moral imperatives, for example ‘it is wrong to steal’). “Using this kind of thinking we can more easily determine the action which we feel to be most appropriate and ethical. In terms of access to controversial materials this may involve, for example, ensuring that our users can make an informed choice with regard to the suitability of particular resources for their own purposes based on clear labelling of such resources, or, in the case of internet
16 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Rob Green (
rob.green@
cilip.org.uk) is Editor, Information Professional.
access, providing users with information lit- eracy skills to evaluate the appropriateness of content for their specifi c needs, and ensuring that librarians are able to unblock content that has been fi ltered out erroneously.” While there are clear arguments in favour of libraries retaining “controversial” materials and allowing access to it, Louise admits there is a balancing act. She says: “Librarians, of course, need to balance a number of con- cerns that go well beyond merely avoiding off ence. These include (but certainly are
March 2023
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