CLN: Trustees taking away First Amendment rights

They are coming for your books. This is not hyperbole, this is fact. And the “they” would be KCRCC rated and vetted CLN trustees — Ottosen, Hanley and Plass. Hanley and Plass ran on a platform of removing books they found offensive from the young adult sections of the library. They now appear to be turning their attention toward adult books.

One of the many changes they wish to make, to the Material Selections Policy, is the removal of the entire section entitled Intellectual Freedom. To be excluded would be such statements as follows:

1) The choice of library materials is an individual matter and, while anyone is free to reject for his or herself materials they do not approve, he/she cannot exercise censorship to restrict freedom of use and access to others.

2) The Community Library Network seeks to provide a balanced collection representing a wide range of viewpoints, including controversial issues that maybe objectionable to some individuals. 

3) The freedom to read, along with the freedom to hear and to view, is protected by the First Amendment.

Read these statements again and know that they will be stricken from the policy. In other words, censorship will be practiced, there will not be a balanced collection and our First Amendment rights will not be protected.

The government, represented by these three elected officials, will be acting to limit your right to read. Your right to free inquiry, into issues that most matter to you, will be severely restricted. Do you want the government making these type of decisions for you? Is this in keeping with our Idaho values? Let the board know that intellectual freedom is an inherent right and their role is to protect it, not eliminate it.

MICHELLE LIPPERT

Post Falls