CILIPS statement on ‘Dear Library’ media coverage

Category: News

CILIP Scotland has issued the following statement in response to a story that first appeared in The Times newspaper regarding the National Library of Scotland’s ‘Dear Library’ exhibition:

Decisions over what to display in a temporary exhibition are taken by the National Library of Scotland in a curatorial capacity and it would therefore be inappropriate for us to comment on how these choices align with our policies.

We understand that the book in question has not been banned, and is permanently available to read for free within the library, as well as being included within the exhibition space in a catalogue of all Scotland’s Books That Shaped Me. We welcome this as library professionals are committed to ethical principles that support access to knowledge and intellectual freedom, and we would be firmly against the censorship of any book lawfully published.

We have no doubt that the National Library and its leadership will work through this with the users it serves, and continue to enrich lives and communities by comprehensively collecting and making available the recorded knowledge of Scotland, while also promoting access to the ideas and cultures of the world. We are always available to work with any library to ensure the profession’s values can be maintained.