Report From UK: “Serious Concerns As Almost a Third of Librarians Asked to Censor Material”

From The Bookseller:

More than 80% of librarians are concerned about the increased incidence of challenges to intellectual freedom, such as requests to remove titles that address specific identities, according to a recent survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP).

In total, 82 individuals and services responded to the survey, with 26% revealing they had “occasionally” been asked to censor material. CILIP noted the data raised “serious concerns”. “If nearly a third of respondents have been asked to censor materials—even if only occasionally—we need to understand more about the basis on which these requests are being made and how equipped librarians feel to respond,” it said. It has since launched a consultation on intellectual freedom, designed to help defend librarians and their collections, with the aim to approve a new policy and publish it by the end of November.

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