‘It is my hope … the Board will decline any action on this challenge’

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Letter to the Editor logoDear Editor,

It has come to my attention that the Board of Trustees of the Westborough Public Library will be discussing and considering what action to take regarding a recent challenge to a book shelved in the children’s department of our library during their meeting this evening, March 29. I wanted to write to express my support of the continued free access to information that Westborough Public Library has extended so consistently to the children and adults in our community for the years that I have been a resident of Westborough.

I am a parent in town as well as a former Westborough Library Trustee. For the past fifteen years, I have brought my children regularly to the library—to browse book materials; access items via ILL; and enjoy the rich programming in the children’s department, the teen room, and beyond. As a parent concerned about the information and content that my now-teenaged children have access to, I deeply empathize with any parent or guardian’s motivation to protect their child from information that they believe will not benefit the child. I would encourage such parents to accompany and guide their child while at the library and help with selecting the materials that they believe their child is ready to consume.

Limiting access to materials beyond a parent’s action to select materials for their own children, however, goes beyond acting to protect one’s own child and treads upon a central tenet of libraries in this country: access to information for all. In a policy statement published online by The American Library Association (“Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights”), the organization explicitly points out that challenges such as this one restrict the rights of others to access the materials that the library has to offer, and as such is profoundly out of keeping with the central mission of our libraries.

It is my hope and expectation that the Board will decline any action on this challenge and continue in excellence with their mission of meeting the information needs of *all* of our Westborough residents, old and young alike.

Sincerely,

Michelle Grandin
Westborough

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