Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes and Other Non-print Formats
The American Library Association document Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes and Other Non-Print Formats: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights reads as follows:
Library collections of videotapes, motion pictures, and other non-print formats raise a number of intellectual-freedom issues, especially regarding minors. The interests of young people , like those of adults, are not limited by subject, theme, or level of sophistication. Librarians have a responsibility to ensure that young people have access to a diversity of materials and services sufficient to meet their needs.
Article V of the Library Bill of Rights says: “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background or views.”
ALA’s Free Access to Libraries for Minors: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights states:
The right to use a library includes free access to, and unrestricted use of, all the services, materials, and facilities the library has to offer. Every restriction on access to, and use of, library resources, based solely chronological age, educational level, or legal emancipation of users violates Article V….Parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children and only their children to library resources. Parents or legal guardians who do not want their children to have access to certain library services, materials or facilities, should so advise their children. Librarians and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authorities in the private relationship between parent and child. Librarians and governing bodies have a public and professional obligation to provide equal access to all library resources for all library users.
--Adopted June 28, 1989 by the ALA Council.
(from American Library Association, Access for Children and Young People to Videotapes and Other Non-Print Formats: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. http://www.ala.org/alaorg/
oif/acc_chil.html)
Mattapoisett Free Public Library will apply the same standards to circulation of videos and other non-print materials as are applied to books and other print materials.
The library supports the exercise by parents of their responsibility to guide their own children’s reading and viewing. Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings--if they are included on the tape or in the packaging by the original publisher, and/or in reviews and reference works in the library’s collection, or from Internet resources accessible at the library--are available to assist parents in providing guidance to their children.
Adopted October 11, 2002
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