75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

Seventy-five years ago at the 1939 American Library Association’s Annual Conference in San Francisco, the ALA Council adopted the Library’s Bill of Rights, echoing the spirit of a document from the Des Moines Public Library in 1938.

This document, refreshed in 1944, 1948, 1961, 1967, 1980 and 1996, remains the library profession’s major policy document on intellectual freedom.

All those revisions prove that the Library Bill of Rights is truly a “living document.” In fact, LBOR now has 21 Interpretations. ALA has recognized that it is a document of ideals, but also of practice -- which is why interpretations have been crafted to deal with such specific issues as privacy, children and services to the disabled.