principle of neutrality and rationale for engaging in advocacy are explored. An expansion of the

teaching role of academic technical services librarians is recommended.

such political contentiousness. This essay addresses the issue of collection development

Library Collections, Acquisitions,

& Technical Services 28 (2004) 465472* Acquisitions/Serials Librarian, James A. Michener Library, University of Northern Colorado, 501 20thD 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Academic libraries; Collection development; Legislation; Academic freedom

1. Introduction

Brian Lamb, founder of cable televisions CSPAN network, which provides a forum for all

sides of controversial issues, notes that at this point in United States history our country is

split almost evenly between liberals and conservatives.[1] Academic librarians cannot escapeThe ethics of academic collection development in a

politically contentious era

Wendy Highby*

Acquisitions/Serials Librarian, James A. Michener Library, University of Northern Colorado,

Greeley, CO 80639, USA

Available online 5 October 2004

Abstract

The ethics of academic library collection development are discussed within the context of the

polarized political climate of the United States. The ethics are examined in regard to collection

development and the exercise of professional judgment. Legislation introduced in the State of

Colorado is used as an example of a manifestation of the political polarization. The legislations

possible effects upon the academic freedom of librarians are examined. The limitations of the ethical1464-9055/$ -

doi:10.1016/j.l

Street, Campu

E-mail adds Box 48, Greeley, CO 80639.

ress: wendy.highby@unco.edu.see front matter D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

cats.2004.09.003

atmosphere, must academic librarians always be neutral, or are there times when they should

libr an

imp ey

mu

Academic LibrariesQ:

bOn Liberty,Q Mill takes on the difficult and sensitive issues of free speech, censorship,

466womens rights, and religious tolerance in order to illustrate his philosophy of inclusiveness,

to bolster his passionate advocacy for the minority report and to powerfully advocate for an

agnostic stance with regard to all opinions:The development of library collections in support of an institutions instruction and research programs should

transcend the personal values of the selector. In the interests of research and learning, it is essential that collections

contain materials representing a variety of perspectives on subjects that may be considered controversial.[2]

ThisprinciplehasbeenendorsedbytheAmericanLibraryAssociation(ALA)andtheAssociation

of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and by the American Association of University

Professors (AAUP). This principle is explicated in the ALA Intellectual FreedomManual.

4. Philosophy and the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedom

Academic librarians can gain philosophical help in applying the principles of intellectual

freedom and neutrality from John Stuart Mill, utilitarian philosopher. In his pragmatic essay3. Background of the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedom

The ethical principle regarding both neutrality and intellectual freedom in collection

development is espoused in principle no. 3 of the bIntellectual Freedom Principles forarian needs to be passionate about being dispassionate. Although librarians run

artial information utility, the best librarians also love books and the ideas therein. Th

st live with a paradox: be neutral yet passionate.be advocates?

There is an often unacknowledged and usually unexamined tension between personal

morality and professional neutrality in the academic librarians sphere. In politically explosive

times, it is particularly hard to maintain the required professional ethic of neutrality, for thebalance within the context of these polarized times. An expansion of the ethical territory and

teaching role of librarians is advocated, to include teaching of the principles of intellectual

freedom and the dynamics of publishing.

2. Question and dilemma

Because of the above noted polarity, analyzing the balance of an academic collection

immediately becomes an ethical issue incorporating a specific question. In a contentiousW. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472If any opinion is compelled to silence, that opinion may, for aught we certainly know, be true. To deny this is to assume

our own infallibility. . .. All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility. . .

An a

neu re

pas

5. Research into the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedom

2. ps

1991 study analyzed holdings in Ohio libraries using a checklist method by comparing

All library staff must positively defend freedom of information by acquiring and preserving materials of which they

may personally disapprove. Acquisitions staff must order titles expeditiously, from suppliers likely to supply materials

All dy

stan ng

sou enexercising academic freedom can be discussed using the example of the political climate of

Colorado in early 2004.are valid and helpful approaches toward the issue of ethical neutrality. The Dilevko stu

ds out, however, as it models a type of advocacy which values a diversity of publishi

rces and is not strictly neutral. The ethical implications of behaving as an advocate whquickly, and then receive and move the material into the cataloging stream as fast as possible. . .. At every step alongthis chain of actions the book is vulnerable, to individuals on the library staff or from outside the library who seek to

repress it from the public. A huge web of trust maintained by everyone who works in the library makes intellectual

freedom possible.[8]holdings and a list compiled by the Moral Majority.[5] Dave Harmeyers 1995 article

analyzed the number of pro-life and pro-choice books acquired by California libraries.[6]

3. In 1997, two Canadian librarians, Dilevko and Grewal, tried a more complex approach

that addressed the interplay of library collection development and the economics of

publishing. They studied journal holdings in relation to the nature of the publisher

(corporate or independent).[7]

4. Marcia Pankake, in College and Research Libraries, writes eloquently of the interplay of

ethics and the quotidian acquisitions routines:Several studies have presented numerical analyses of collection balance. Stephen HupA literature search reveals the existence of lively dialogue and sensible advice that

recommends a stance of thoughtfully vigilant neutrality when building the library collection.

1. Barbara Jones, in Libraries, Access, and Intellectual Freedom: Developing Policies for

Public and Academic Libraries, offers pragmatic guidelines for development of sound

policies. She recommends that explanatory language be included in the policies to

describe the difference between selection and censorship:

Selection is not necessarily censorship. Accompanied by a good collection development policy, selection of library

materials demonstrates fiscal responsibility and recognition of the user communitys priorities.[4]adoption of Mills agnostic stance could help librarians develop library collections in

trally diverse manner. Following Mills suggestion, librarians could also avoid a me

sive openness and move to a broader stance of advocating for lively discourse.. . .However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he

ought to be moved by the consideration that however true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly

discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth.[3]

W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472 467

sho all

side aid

and ey

Col

E as

foll

as the Students for Academic Freedom. It is self-described as a bnational coalition of studentorg ity

to t

TStudents have a right to expect that their academic freedom will not be infringed by instructors who create a hostile

environment toward their political or religious beliefs or who introduce controversial matter into the classroom or

course work that is substantially unrelated to the subject of study.[12]

Soon the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) entered the fray. In

responding specifically to the Colorado situation AAUP stated:

The whole thrust of the proposed Colorado Academic Bill of Rights. . .is to express distrust of faculty capacity to makesuch judgments (between indoctrination and proper pedagogical authority) and to transfer the supervision of such

determinations to a college or university administration or to courts.[13]

AAUPs argument for power to remain local and collegial rather than centralized in

administrations or courts prevailed. The presidents of the four major universities in Colorado

assured the legislators that the policies of academic freedom were already in place, and that

those policies would be rigorously applied if and when the need arose. As a result, House Bill

1315 was withdrawn by March 18, 2004. Winning local and collegial control, however,car

conanizations whose goal is to end the political abuse of the university and to restore integr

he academic mission as a disinterested pursuit of knowledge.Q[11]he bill also enumerates the following rights of students:Recognizes students rights to academic freedom from discrimination on the basis of political or religious beliefs, and

the right to information concerning grievance procedures for protection of their academic freedoms. Directs the

governing boards of state institutions of higher education to adopt a grievance procedure for use in enforcing students

rights.[10]

David Horowitz, a political activist who encouraged the bill, sponsors a student group knownorado legislature.

ntitled bConcerning Students Rights in Higher Education,Q the bill is summarizedows:user groups, the faculty, is suspect? Such is the highly politicized state of academia in 2004.

What would happen to a position of balance if a certain controversial state bill would become

law? For example, on January 29, 2004, Colorado House Bill 1315 was introduced into theuld find refuge in one campus institution dedicated to preserving balanced views on

s of a controversyQ.[9] Although most academic librarians would agree with Jones stneutral position regarding balance, what if the professional judgment of one of the k6. An example of a current challenge to the principle of neutrality and intellectual

freedom

Because collection development must be customized to fit the needs of the local librarys

user group, academic librarians collection decisions are shaped by the curriculum and by

faculty research interests. Barbara M. Jones speaks for the students, too, and states: bStudents

W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472468ries with it the responsibility to be vigilantly active in continual ethical discussions and in

stant protection of the academic and intellectual freedoms of library users.

T to

I at,

hist 6.

spe he

nee

H nt

sho he

intr ryAssociation:

Throughout ALAs history the focus of attention has been upon problems and programs of librarianship. In the late

1960s and early 1970s, however, an erosion of this focus occurred. Under a concept of libraries called dSocialResponsibility,T topics concerning librarianship were replaced in ALA conferences by a variety of social and politicalissues. This erosion has weakened the ALA, and if it continues, may sever the link of common purpose which is the

reason of existence of this organization.[16]

Is this type of pure, apolitical stand still feasible in 2004?

The people with the most administrative and thus, the political power in libraries and society

at large are the baby boomers. This generation came of age in the 1960s, at the time social justice

issues were simmering. DavidHorowitz is of this generation and he deals in political power, i.e.,

the intersection of money and ideas, and the application of power to book publishing and book

purchasing. For example, the manual of Horowitzs Students for Academic Freedom suggests

targeting the following subject areas for their ideological and partisan leanings:

Cultural Studies, American Studies, English Literature, Womens Studies, African-American (or Black) Studies,

American-Indian Studies, and Asian-American Studies.. . .

. . .Fertile ground is also found in the Political Science, Sociology and History departments, although to a lesser degreethan the departments mentioned above.[17]

It may be that Horowitz and the Students for Academic Freedom really do not want to pay forthe

appcifically addressed the indispensability of academic freedom for librarians and expressed t

d for blatitude in the exercise of their professional judgment within the library.Q[15]owever, questions were ripe in 1972 regarding whether a librarians exercise of judgme

uld include advocacy. David Berninghausen wrote in a Library Journal article about t

usion of social issues and partisan politics into the agenda of the American LibraBefore that date, it was an arduous process to develop the intellectual freedom stance, and to

raise the professional stature of both public and academic librarians. Nationally endorsed

intellectual freedom principles, in a form familiar to us today were not promulgated until 1939.

Only after 1956 were academic librarians welcomed as members of the AAUP. It behooves

academic librarians to be cognizant of impacts upon their classroom counterparts, for their

professional lives are symbiotic. Academic librarians are a subset of their classroom colleagues,

and their daily work supports the academic freedoms of both groups. In 1995 the AAUP and

ACRL adopted a bJoint Statement on Faculty Status of College and University Librarians.Q Itn light of the above Colorado House Bill, academic librarians may want to remember th

orically, the professional guidelines of ALA and AAUP have been intertwined since 195examine more carefully the principle that the library is merely neutral. For what might

librarians serve as advocates, if at all?he activism of David Horowitz, the son of a librarian[14] forces academic librarians7. From professional judgment to advocacy

W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472 469production and promulgation of certain ideas, those they label as left. That is how they are

lying their political power.

bFinally, we should stop congratulating ourselves on how important we are to democracy and

circulation technicians are aware of patron confidentiality. Technicians in acquisitions andcataloging also need training in the ethics of intellectual freedom and in how to relate this

principle to both public and technical library tasks.

! Incorporate discussion of intellectual freedom as part of bibliographic instruction forstudents. Information literacy should include the concept of intellectual breadth. The

cataloger could explain the concept of multiple subject headings in order to show

interdisciplinarity and to demonstrate that seemingly unrelated matters can be related.

! Acquisitions and collection development librarians could teach students how to lookbeyond the rhetoric of a publishers publicity blurbs, how to read between the lines in

order to understand the social history of the text, how to judge the peer-review process,

and how to assess various publishers.

! Explain to students how to value controversy and debate about all issues and textbookmaterial. Show them that a well-researched paper always notes the opposing argumentsstart behaving as though democracy really matters.Q[18] He urges librarians to focus theirenergies toward researching and fighting media conglomeration. Free-lance journalist

Richard Poynder teasingly calls librarians lefties and advocates a more intense focus upon

media consolidation and copyright laws, claiming librarians are distracted by the Patriot

Act.[19] And in fact, the ALA did promulgate a resolution in June 2003 that decried the FCC

media ownership rule changes. Thus, on the larger political front, in librarians national

advocacy groups and in state legislatures, this debate will continue.

10. What can be done at the local, interpersonal level?

! Educate library paraprofessional staff about issues of intellectual freedom. Usually,8. Ethical questions about the political power of academic librarians

How will academic librarians use their power? Will librarians remain neutral about all

subjects, save censorship? Will they broaden their definition of censorship to include the

application of litmus tests to professors, subject areas, and university presses? Likewise, who

will pay for the knowledge production of academics? Will it become privatized, politically

polarized, and inequitably funded? Is it ethical for librarians to advocate for adequate and

continued public funding of higher education and libraries? Is it politically neutral to fight

against media consolidation? In this era, information production is becoming increasingly

consolidated and politicized, and thus, the process of information provision is far from

neutral.

9. A new ethical emphasis

Steven Harris, writing in Counterpoise, challenges librarians insular complacency:

W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472470within the topic.[20]

[9] Jones, op. cit.

[10] Colorado State General Assembly. House bills. Online. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: bhttp://

www.leg.state.co.us/Clics2004a/csl.nsf/BillFoldersHouse?openFramesetN

[11] Students for Academic Freedom. Online. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: bwww.studentsforacademicfreedom.orgN

[12] Colorado State General Assembly, op. cit.

[13] American Association of University Professors (2004). Academic bill of rights. Academe, 90(1),

7981.

[14] Blanche Horowitz had a law degree and an MLS. Her son David describes her accomplishments in his

autobiography (Radical son: a journey through our time. New York: Free Press, 1997): bshe created a uniqueclassification system for family-planning subjects which were [sic] adopted by most Planned Parenthood

affiliates and also by family-planning libraries all over the world. . .[In 1975], she was elected president of theAssociation for Population/Family Planning Libraries and Information Centers International, which she had

helped to foundQ (2134).[15] Office for Intellectual Freedom, op. cit.[1] Lamb, B. (2004). Booknotes: On American character. New York7 Public Affairs.[2] Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association (2002). Intellectual freedom manual

(Sixth ed.). Chicago7 American Library Association.[3] Mill, J. (1958). In William E. Buckler (Ed.), On liberty, Prose of the Victorian period (pp. 251287). Boston7

Houghton Mifflin.

[4] Jones, B. (1999). Libraries, access, and intellelectual freedom: Developing policies for public and academic

libraries. Chicago7 American Library Association.[5] Hupp, S. (1991). The left and the right: A preliminary study of bias in collection development in Ohio

libraries. Collection Management, 14(12), 139154.

[6] Harmeyer, D. (1995). Potential collection development bias: Some evidence on a controversial topic in

California. College and Research Libraries, 56, 101111.

[7] Dilevko, J., & Grewal, K. (1997). A new approach to collection bias in academic libraries:

The extent of corporate control in journal holdings. Library and Information Science Research, 19(4),

359385.

[8] Pankake, M. (1995). Collection bias: Eternal vigilance the price of liberty. College and Research Libraries,

113(4).[16]References11. Conclusion

While always remaining true to the librarians principle of neutrality and intellectual

freedom, academic librarians can ethically expand their roles to include advocacy. This

bboth. . .and. . .Q stance is possible by having faith in the educability of students. As thelibrarian Lester Asheim wrote in 1953, bThe selector has faith in the intelligence of thereader; the censor has faith only in his own.Q[21] Advocacy means that librarians will addteaching about the ethics and history of knowledge production to their repertoire, in addition

to organization of knowledge and research strategies. Librarians could advocate by lobbying

for the continued funding of public education and libraries through their professional

organizations and their own personal political choices.W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472 471Berninghausen, D. (1972). Antithesis in librarianship: Social responsibility vs. the library bill of rights.

Library Journal, 97(20), 36753681.

[17] S. Dogan, Students for Academic Freedom Handbook. Washington, D.C.: Students for Academic Freedom.

Online. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: bhttp://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/texts/SAF%20handbook%20FINAL%202.pdfN

[18] Harris, S. (1999). Discourse and censorship: Librarians and the ideology of freedom. Counterpoise, 3(3/4).

[19] Poynder, R. (2004). Fiddling while Rome burns? Information Today, 21(1), 15.

[20] Good teaching can involve the introduction of controversy, as stated by the AAUP in their eloquent response

to the Students for Academic Freedom: bcontroversy is often at the heart of instruction; good teaching isoften served by referring to contemporary controversies even if only to stimulate student interest and debate.

If these watchdogs have their way, a professor of classics, history, ethics, or even museum administration

could make no reference to the Iraq conflict or to George Bushin their courses on the Roman Empire,

colonialism, the morality of war, or trade in the artifacts of ancient civilizationsbecause the subject of

these courses is not this war or this president. Contrary to defending academic freedom, the project is

inimical to it and, indeed, to the very idea of liberal education.Q (American Association of UniversityProfessors. (March 2, 2004). Controversy in the classroom. Online. Retrieved from the World Wide Web.

bhttp//:www.aaup.org/statements/SpchState/comaclass.htmN[21] Asheim, L. (1954). The librarians responsibility: Not censorship, but selection. Freedom of book

selection: Proceedings of the second conference on intellectual freedom, Whittier, California, June 2021,

1953 (pp. 9099). Chicago7 American Library Association.

W. Highby / Libr. Coll. Acq. & Tech. Serv. 28 (2004) 465472472

The ethics of academic collection development in a politically contentious eraIntroductionQuestion and dilemmaBackground of the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedomPhilosophy and the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedomResearch into the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedomAn example of a current challenge to the principle of neutrality and intellectual freedomFrom professional judgment to advocacyEthical questions about the political power of academic librariansA new ethical emphasisWhat can be done at the local, interpersonal level?ConclusionReferences