Looking Back, Moving Ahead
Ann Symons, speaker and former librarian, mentions in a reflective essay on librarianship that she is grateful for his efforts not only for the profession but also as a library patron and notes that "Forrest Spaulding's library was not the library any of us work in today.” Our society continues to struggle with questions regarding obscenity and controversial ideas. Librarians continue to receive pressure to remove and label items in their collection. Librarians are still occasionally persecuted for standing strong in their convictions to protect the right to read. The ALA's Economic Barriers to Freedom: an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights begins by stating "a democracy presupposes an informed citizenry." Being able to fully explore all sides of an issue is imperative to forming an educated opinion regarding the issue. In advocating for intellectual freedom in the creation of his bill of rights, Forrest Spaulding gave librarians a platform on which to stand as they work to protect every person’s right to access information.
Read more about this topic: Forrest Spaulding
Famous quotes containing the word moving:
“A self is, by its very essence, a being with a past. One must look lengthwise backwards in the stream of time in order to see the self, or its shadow, now moving with the stream, now eddying in the currents from bank to bank of its channel, and now strenuously straining onwards in the pursuit of its chosen good.”
—Josiah Royce (1855–1916)