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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSanta Clara County Library - 1994 Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement . , . . f' April 18, 1994 JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA AND CITIES OF CAMPBELL, CUPERTINO, GILROY, LOS ALTOS, LOS ALTOS HILLS, MILPITAS, MONTE SERENO, MORGAN HILL AND SARATOGA, RELATING TO LIBRARY SERVICES This is an agreement between the County of Santa Clara and the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill and Saratoga (hereinafter, IICitiesll), relating to the joint exercise of powers over library services throughout the Santa Clara County Free Library District. WHEREAS, Santa Clara County Free Library District, which is comprised of. the unincorporated area of the County and the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill and Saratoga, has authority to provide library services within its jurisdiction, and is governed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors; and WHEREAS, the Cities have independent authority to provide library services within their jurisdictions; and 1 ~PR '2 ~ \994., ~ WHEREAS, The provision of library services to the residents of the unincorporated area of the County and the Cities are enhanced and made more efficient by a coordinated program among the public entities who comprise the District; and WHEREAS, there is a direct benefit conferred upon the properties which are served by library facilities which enhances the value of the properties served; and WHEREAS, the Joint Powers Law (Government Code ~~6500, et.seq.) permits public entities, after receiving the prior consent of their respective legislative bodies, to jointly exercise powers common to the contracting parties, including the power to provide for library services; and WHEREAS, the County service area act (Government Code ~25210 et.seq.) provides for alternative methods of providing for services within unincorporated areas of the County and within those cities which choose to' participate in a County Library Service Area; and, WHEREAS, the County and the Cities will request the local Agency Formation Commission to approve the creation of a County Library Service Area to include the unincorporated area of the County and the Cities, to provide for library services. 2 ~ Now, therefore, in consideration of the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, the parties to this agreement agree as follows: 1. Purpose of Aqreement and Parties The parties to this agreement, with the consent of their respective legislative bodies, hereby join together for the purpose of providing extended library services within their communities and by establishing a Library Joint Powers Authority to exercise the powers described herein. The parties agree that additional cities may become parties to this agreement on such terms and conditions as may be approved by LAFCO and by a majority of the members of the Library Joint Powers Board. One condition to participation is that all participant members and their residents shall have reciprocal access to library facilities, materials and services of all other members. 2. Te~ This joint powers agreement shall commence upon the execution of this agreement by the parties hereto, and shall be operative upon the establishment of a County Service Area for library services and the levy of a benefit assessment for library services. In the event a benefit assessment is not levied, the 3 parties agree to engage in good faith renegotiation of this joint powers agreement within 45 days of the decision. The agreement shall continue, uninterrupted, as long as the County Service Area and benefit assessment exist and until such time as a majority of the governing board members provided herein vote to terminate the agreement. An individual city may withdraw from the joint powers authority and the library district upon the giving of notice no later than August 1 of any year of its intent to withdraw from the Authority effective on July 1 of the following year. A city which withdraws shall be subject to all procedural and substantive requirements of law applicable to withdrawal from a joint powers agreement and a library district. 3. Governinq Board There is hereby created the Library Joint Powers Board ("Boardl'), which shall be responsible to administer this agreement. The Library Joint Powers Board shall consist of one council member from each of the Cities and two members of the Board of Supervisors. Each city may designate one alternate member and the County may designate two alternate members. Selection process for each member and alternate shall be determined by the governing body of each city and the County. Members shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in relation to their duties as members of 4 the Board. 4. Orqanization of the Board Actions of the Board shall be effective upon approval of a majority of the members of the Board. In January of each year, the Board shall select a chairperson and a vice-chairperson and shall meet quarterly or more frequently as determined by the Board. 5. Employees The County Librarian, and all library personnel, shall continue to be employed by the County of Santa Clara and subject to the County's labor agreements and personnel rules. Under the County Charter, the County Librarian is appointed by and reports to the County Executive. Pursuant to this agreement, the County Librarian will also report to the Library Joint Powers Board, which may make recommendations to the County Executive relating to the performance of the County Librarian. 6. Support Services The County of Santa Clara will continue to provide counsel, purchasing, payroll, budget, treasury and other services to the library system and shall be reimbursed for the reasonable cost of 5 r these services. The Joint Powers Library Board may also contract with individual cities or other entities for library services, facilities, and/or administrative support (such as, but not limited to, counsel, purchasing, payroll, budget, etc.). 7. Property Library building leases and other agreements relating to library buildings shall remain in full force and effect. Consistent with applicable law, existing library property and library property acquired with library district revenues remains property of the County Free Library District. Property acquired from benefit assessment revenues shall be the property of the Joint Powers Authority, subject to distribution in the Board's discretion to any member city which withdraws from this agreement. 8. Library Policies All policies relating to the provision of library services, including hours, organization, staffing levels and type, and other services, shall be determined by the Joint Powers Library Board. Current policies with respect to the library shall continue in full force and effect until changed by the Board. In addition, libraries are subject to general State laws with 6 r respect to libraries, including the provisions of Education Code section 19146 which vests power to select materials in the County Librarian. The Joint Powers Library Board shall also consider and adopt the annual operating and capital improvements budgets for the library system. 9. Finances A. Revenues. The parties to this agreement hereby reconfirm existing revenue sources and commit to their continuance at their current proportion to the extent permitted by general law. These revenue sources are: a. Property Tax b. Motor Vehicle in Lieu tax distributed to libraries c. Countywide PERS levy for county library employees d. Public Library Fund e. State and Federal Library Services Act funds f. Special District Augmentation Fund g. Interest B. Funding Formula. Parties to this agreement hereby reconfirm the "funding formula" for libraries as follows: Funding of personnel and library materials at each library facility shall be a function of three equally weighted factors: circulation, assessed value and population of each library service area, adjusted so as to provide minimum service levels 7 set forth below. The Library Joint Powers Board may change the foregoing formula, provided minimum service levels are not adversely affected. C. Minimum Service Levels. The parties to this agreement agree to minimum service levels as follows, providing revenues are maintained at the 1993-4 fiscal year level and a benefit assessment is levied and collected: 1. 30 hour, 5 day week at every community library 2. 20 hours per week at branches such as Woodland 3. bi-weekly bookmobile service 4. administrative, collection and technical services support appropriate to public service hours Each participating city and the County may supplement revenues to the District to provide for enhanced services at individual library facilities. D. System Support. The parties agree that financial support of the library system equipment, acquisitions, administration and central staff is essential. To that end, the following shall be provided: 1. A minimum materials budget proportionately equivalent to a $1.1 million budget in fiscal year 1995-6. 2. Additional assessments levied for enhanced services in a branch library shall be appropriated by the Board and as approved by the Board member{s) representing the branch library service area for direct services and materials. No more than 10% 8 of the additional benefit assessment may be appropriated by the Board for central support. E. Treasurer. The County Treasurer shall assure that the accounts and financial records of the Library Joint Powers Authority are maintained, and that they are audited on the same basis as the financial records of the County. 10. Mutual Hold Harmless Each party to this agreement shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless other parties and their respective officers, employees and agents against any and all claims, actions, loss, liability or expense (including attorneys fees) arising out of, based upon, or resulting from willfull or negligent acts or omissions by that party's officers, employees or agents. 11. Amendments This Joint Powers Agreement may be amended as provided by the Joint Powers Act. In the event there is a change in law affecting a material term of this agreement, the parties agree to engage in good faith negotiations on a successor agreement within 45 days of the change in law. 9 12. Authorization and Execution By the execution of this Agreement, the parties hereby authorize their respective counsel to execute such documents as may be necessary to carry out the terms of this Agreement. This Agreement may be signed in counter parts, each of which shall be deemed an original, and all of which shall constitute one and the same agreement. County of Santa Clara BY'~~~~ oa Diridon, Chairperson Board of Supervisors ATTEST: APR 2 6 1994 APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: ~~ ATTEST: , 0JU4~~ City Clerk admwoodsjlibraryjagreemt 10 ~ d Oan'9d Pre~ented , ~ Ac-acted Adopte . C t S C'" r c,poro'-led, '-. aunTY 0 anfa. ..of d/ ., /'. F SUPERVISOHS _' _' ~'( ThE BOARD 0 ... .' '~;,'), CIJ>.MA ()II1C(, 01 Ill(' C(llll\l\' 1::\CClIIJ\'(' r~-rv~ COUNTY Or ~ "card - 'Vr ., '- rkof tu r- ~Yllis;t- ?~...: V-~ ( :""111\' (;O\'CrJlllll'1l1 C\'I1WL Ed,-' \\'ill).: 1/ /.. 7() \\'1 ''-I III '( I( iillg :-;1[( '( 'I Y Depvty S.1I1 Ie N' <:; :hillllll. I <1,-, I I () B D EC ~ ~,{f/ 79'4 ,,~. 1:-\' .'.!! ~ 1-2.(2~ Duta: __ ~ Prepared ,-. '-:1 ,! ..___ b .' - --J--Ulf 1 r y \ j1/!~ y ./ ,- l..Z--\ Jan~/Decker, Director of Stra tegic Planning December 7, 1994 To: Board of Supervisors From: George T. Newell, Acting County Executive Subj: APPROVAL OF BENEFIT ASSESSMENT FOR LIBRARY SERVICES Recommenda tion It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt the attached ordinance to levy a benefit assessment in the County Library Servi~e Area. Background and Reasons for Recommendation On November 8, 1994, voters in the Santa Clara County Library District approved the levy of a Hurty-three ($33.00) benefit assessment to improve library services. The advisory measure passed with over 68% of the vote. On December 6, 1994, the Board gave the public the opportunity to comment on the methodology and the amount of the assessment. There was' no public testimony. Also on December 6, the Board of Supervisors created a County Service Area for the provision of library services which is co-terminus with the Library District. Revenue from the benefit assessment will partially replace property tax diverted from the library district by the State and augment existing revenue currently flowing to the library. Pursuant to a Joint Powers Agreement approved last spring between the County and the cities of the Library District, a new governing board of the Library District will be established. Under the assessment formula, a single-family residential parcel will be assessed on one unit of benefit and the annual assessment will not exceed thirty-three dollars ($33.00) per year. Commercial and industrial properties will be assessed from one to not more than 300 benefit units, depending upon the extent the property benefits from the library services provided by the assessment. The new assessment will begin generating revenue for the library in Fiscal 54 Year 1995-96.. -4 1\,..Ilc!tt! "-.111'(.f\I'-o,iH.... \\;1 ~l.;t! \1 :\"'!,:. /1" i "~'.:l(!~ 1:11~1(,'HI/"II...... j'l,dllIlIChlll I);.;~II;\ \111,1-111101 ~ -x 1z ORDINANCE NO. 94- 300, ~~ '-/ BENEFIT ASSESSMENT TO FINANCE LIBRARY SERVICES The Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara ordains as follows: SECTION 2: Chapter XIV is added to Division Al4 of the Santa Clara County Ordinance Code to read: CHAPTER XIV - LIBRARY BENEFIT ASSESSMENT Section Al4-2 - Puroose. The benefit assessment levied under this Chapter is solely for the purpose of raising revenue necessary to"maintain and restore public Library Services in the County of Santa Clara Library Service Area. Section A24-2 - Election. The assessment levied by this ordinance has been approved by nearly 69 percent of the votes cast by the voters voting on Advisory Measure A within the County of Santa Clara Library Service Area at the November 8, 2994 general election. Section Al4-3 - Definitions. For the purposes of this Chapter, the following terms shall be defined as set forth below: (a) "County of Santa Clara Library Service Area" shall mean the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated area of the County. (b) "Library services" shall mean all services and facilities provided by the Santa Clara County Library, including, but not limited to: acquiring, constructing, equipping, furnishing, staffing, operating, and mainta~ing real property, buildings, equipment, vehicles, and other facilities for the conduct of public library programs; providing collection development and maintenance, lending services, information services, and programs; acquiring books, magazines, newspapers, audio visual, electronic media, and other informational materials; providing access to all available lending materials through direct loan, inter-library loan, literacy programs, electronic access, and other special service programs; providing information, ,recreation, and lifelong learning of , all persons, and administrative and indirect costs of providing those services. 55 -' c) "Parcel" shall be defined as any parcel of land in the Santa Clara County Library Service Area for which the County Assessor of Santa Clara County has assigned an assessor's identification number. (d) "Residential Unit" shall mean a building or portion of a building designed for or occupied exclusively by one family, including, but not limited to, single family home, apartment, condominium or cooperative. Residential cooperatives which have not been subdivided into individual parcels shall be treated the same as condominiums in the application of the tax rate. (e) "Zone" shall mean each area served by a library facility operated by the Santa Clara County Library. Section Al4-4 - TYPe of Assessment. There is hereby levied a benefit assessment on all parcels in all zones of the County of Santa Clara Library Service Area, except where Parcels are otherwise exempt from the tax under this Chapter. Section A14-5 - Leqislative Findinq of Benefit. In levying this assessment, the Board of Supervisors finds and declares that the owners of parcels will derive an economic benefit from the library services provided from the proceeds of the assessment. Section Al4-6 - Benefit Value for Differinq Land Uses. Different land use types benefit from library services to differing degrees. Properties which receive similar benefit levels are classified by land use type, according to County Land Use Codes, and receive the relative benefit values as indicated: Land Use TYPe 1. Single family residential 2. Condominium/townhouse 3. Multi-family residential 4. Other residential (mobile homes trailer parks, camps, etc.) 5. Retail 6. All non-retail type businesses 7. Miscellaneous vacant land (un- developed, agricultural,etc.) 56 Code Benefit Value 1 6 2,3,4 5,7,6,9,67 $1.00 1.00 .50 .50 50-58 10-40,59-61, 72,76,77 60,90-94,96,97 .50 .75 .20 2 -4. Land Use TvDe Code Benefit Value 8. Exempt (public schools, churches, parks, playgrounds, public buildings, vacant public land, etc.) 41,42,70,71,74-78 81-88,95,96,98,99 .00 9. Transportation and Utilities (privately operated) .50 Section A14-7 - Benefit Units of Measure. In relating the benefit value derived from library servlce to each land use type, a basic unit of measure for each land is established. This basic unit of measure shall be in accordance with information obtained from the Assessor's roll. Land Use Unit of Measure All residential uses Retail Non-retail commercial All vacant uses Transportation/Utilities One dwelling unlt .2 acres (5 BU's/ac.) .1 acres (10 BU's/ac.) One acre .2 acres (5 BU's/ac.) In levying assessments for nonresidential parcels, properties will be rounded to the nearest unit of measure (for example, retail parcels which are .5 acres will be assessed as .6 acres) . Section A14-8 - Maximum Benefit Levels. The maximum benefit units and acreage which may be assigned for each non-residential parcel is as follows: Land Use Max. Benefit Units/Parcel Max. Acres Retail Non-retail commercial Vacant land (all uses) .Trans/Utilities 150 300 10 150 30 30 10 30 All residential uses will be assessed on a per dwelling unit basis with no maximum limit. Section A14-9 - Maximum for multiple non-residential parcels ln common ownership. An owner same business payments made assessment. of multiple non-residential parcels engaged in the under common ownership may claim a refund of in excess of the maximum (300 benefit unit) 57 3 " Section A14-10 - Calculation of Assessment. The formula for calculating per parcel assessments is as follows: A. Benefit Value x Benefit Units Benefits Points B. Benefit Points x Base Assessment Level = Assessment for Property Section 14-11 - Base Assessment Level. The base assessment level shall be $33.00. Section Al4-12 - Maximum Annual Increase The base assessment may not be increased by more than 2 percent annually; except that, upon approval of a city, the base may be increased in a particular zone to provide for enhanced services to the owners of parcels in that city. Section Al4-13 - Collection. - The assessment shall be collected in the same manner as ordinary County ad valorem property taxes are collected and ,shall be subject to the same penalties and same procedure and sale in case of delinquency as provided by such taxes. All laws applicable to the levy, collection and enforcement of County ad valorem property taxes shall be applicable to such assessment. Section 14-14 - Duration of Tax. The assessment imposed by this Chapter shall be corne effective on July I, 1995 for a period of ten years thereafter. Section Al4-1S - Refunds. .Whenever the amount of any tax, penalty, or interest 4as b€en mistakenly paid more than once, or has been erroneously collected or received by the County, it may be refunded provided a verified claim in writing, stat~g the specific ground upon ~hich such claim is founded, is filed with the Office of the County Tax Collector within one year from the date of payment. 7he County Tax Collector or his or her designee, shall submit a ~eport and substantiating documentation to the Auditor- CO~troller, or his or her designee, requesting that such officer ~~~~ the correction and initiate an appropriate refund. ~ 4 ~' Section A14-16 - Severance Clause. If any section, subsection, sentence, phrase or clause of this Chapter is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not effect the validity of the remaining portion of this Chapter. Section A14-17 - Reaulations. The County Librarian and County Tax Collector may adopt reasonable and consistent rules to explain, interpret, and implement this Chapter. Section A14-18 - Withdrawal of City. If a city withdraws from the services of the County Library, the assessment shall terminate within the city according to the provisions of sections 19104 or 19105 of the Education Code. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Clara, State of California, on DEe 2 0 1994 by the following vote: AYES: Supervisors DIRIDON GONZALES HONDA LOFGREN -]>'1' ~ f.I>WIi..- NOES: Supervisors NONE ABSENT : Supervisors McKENNA ~ ROD IRIDON, Chairperson Board of Supervisors ATTEST: PHYLLIS A. PEREZ, Clerk G~r(:JJ:;sor: APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: 4~-;?{-~ STEVEN M. WOODSIDE r/ ~I County Counsel /-7/-'1/91 5 59 ~ SANTA CLARA COUNTY liBRARY MATERIALS AND SELECTION POLICY PURPOSE The Santa Clara County Library provides a free marketplace of ideas and. affirms each individual's freedom to read and to use all library materials. The Library's guidelines for the selection and placement of books and materials are based on principles set forth in the "Library Bill of Rights". as adopted by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on October I, 1974. LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services: 1. Books and library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. 2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan' or doctrinal disapprovaL 3. Libraries should challenge censorship of the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment. 4. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas. S',A person's right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views. / 6. Libraries which make exhibit spaces a-nd meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use. .. 60 SANTA CLARA COUNTY LIBRARY POLICY CLARIFICATION The Santa Clara County Free Library provides public library services to people in a variety of communities of differing interests and concerns. Following are some of the key points from the Library's Selection Policy: SELECTION L The basic test for selection of any item is whether it is of proven or potential interest to the people served. Other considerations include the quality, cost, format, reviews, public demand, and availability of the information. These decisions are all professional in nature. 2. Materials are selected to satisfy the prevalent tastes and needs of the community and to recognize changing and minority interests and differing viewpoints on controversial issues. 3. Selected materials may be offensive, shocking, or boring to some individuals, but may be meaningful and significant to others. Works chosen are viewed as a whole, not in isolated parts. 4. Gift additions must meet the same selection criteria as purchased materials. The right to accept or refuse conditions placed upon gifts of materials or funds is reserved to the County Librarian. The Library welcomes donations of gifts of materials or funds to enrich the library collection. ACCESS The public, regardless of age, has free access to all library materials. The only limitations are for those items which need protection because of rarity, cost, or susceptibility to loss or damage. RESPONSIBILITY , 1. Responsibility for the reading of minors rests with their parents or local guardians. Selection of adult material is not restricted by the possibility that these materials may corne into the possession of minors. The library does not act in loco parentis. - 2. , The responsibility for materials selection lies with the professional librarians. All staff members and the general public may recommend material for consideration. The decision is professional in nature and is based upon principle rather than personal opinion, reason rather than prejudice, and judgment rather than censorship. The ultimate responsibility for selection rests by law with the County Librarian. 61 (Education Code 27206) ..' INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM STATEMENT AN INTERPREfA nON OF THE LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS The heritage of free men is ours. In the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, the founders of our nation proclaimed certain fundamental freedoms to be essential to our form of government. Primary among these is the freedom of expression( specifically the right to publish diverse opinions and the right to unrestricted access to those opinions. As citizens committed to the full 'and free use of all communications media and as professional persons responsible for making the content of those media accessible to all without prejudice, we, the undersigned, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of freedom of expression. Through continuing judicial interpretations of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, freedom of expression has been guaranteed. Every American who aspires to the success of our experiment in democracy--who has faith in the political and social integrity of free men--must stand firm on those Constitutional guarantees of essential rights. Such Americans can be expected to fulfill the responsibilities implicit in those rights. We, therefore, affirm these propositions: 1. We will make available to everyone who needs or desires them the widest possible diversity of views and modes of expression, including those which are strange, unorthodox or unpopular. Creative thought is, by its nature, new. New ideas are always different and, to some people, distressing and even threatening. The creator of every new idea is likely to be regarded as unconventional-occasionally heretical-until his idea is first examined, then refined, then tested in its political, social or moral applications. The characteristic ability of our governmental system to adapt to necessary change is vastly strengthened by the option of the people to choose freely from among conflicting opinions. To stifle nonconformist ideas at their inception would be to end the democratic process. Only through continuous weighing and selection from among opposing views can free individuals obtain the strength needed for intelligent, constructive decisions and actions. In short, we need to understand not only what we believe, but why we believe as we do. 63 .... 2. We need not endorse every idea contained in the materials we produce and make available. We serve the educational process by disseminating the knowledge and wisdom required for the growth of the mind and the expansion of learning. For us to employ our own political, moral, or esthetic views as standards for determining what materials are published or circulated conflicts with the public interest. We cannot foster true education by imposing on others the structure and content of our own opinion:>. We must preserve and enhance the people's right to a broader range of ideas than those held by any librarian or publisher or church or government. We hold that it is wrong to limit any person to those ideas and that information another believes to be true, good, and proper. 3. We regard as irrelevant to the acceptance and distribution of any creative work the personal history or political affiliations of the author or others responsible for it or its publication. A work of art must be judged solely on its own merits. Creativity cannot flourish if its appraisal and acceptance by the community is influenced by the political views or private lives of the artists or the creators. A society that allows blacklists to be compiled and used to silence writers and artists cannot exist as a free society. 4. With every available legal means, we will challenge laws or governmental action restricting or prohibiting the publication of certain materials or limiting free access to such materials. Our society has no place for legislative efforts to coerce the taste of its members, to restrict adults to reading matter deemed suitable only for children, or to inhibit the efforts of creative persons in their attempts to achieve artistic perfection. When we prevent serious artists from dealing with truth as they see it, we stifle creative endeavor at its source. Those who direct and control the intellectual development of our children-- parents, teachers, religious leaders, scientists, philosophers, statesmen- must assume the responsibility for preparing young people to cope with life as it is and to face the diversity of experience to which they will be exposed as they mature. This is an affirmative responsibility that cannot be discharged easily, certainly not with the added burden of curtailing one's access to art, literature, and opinion. Tastes differ. Taste, like morality, cannot be controlled by government, for governmental action, devised to suit the demands of one group, thereby limits the freedom of all others. 64 .. 5. We oppose labeling of any work of literature or art, or any persons responsible for its creation, as subversive, dangerous, or otherwise undesirable. Labeling attempts to predispose users of the: various media of communication, and to ultimately close off a path to knowledge. Labeling rests on the assumption that persons exist who have a special wisdom, and who, therefore can be permitted to determine what will have good and bad effects on other people. But freedom of expression rests on the premise of ideas vying in the open marketplace for acceptance, change, or rejection by individuals. Free men choose this path. 6. '. We, as guardians of intellectual freedom, oppose and will resist every encroachment upon that freedom by individuals or groups, private or official. It is inevitable in the give-and-take of the democratic process that the political, moral and esthetic preferences of a person or group will conflict occasionall y with those of others. A fundamental premise of our free society is that each citizen is privileged to decide those opinions to which he will adhere or which he will recommend to the members of a privately organized group or association. But no private group may usurp the law and impose its own political or moral concepts upon the general public. Freedom cannot be accorded only to selected groups or it is then transmuted into privilege and unwarranted license. 7. Both as citizens and professionals, we will strive by all legitimate means open to us to be relieved of the threat of personal, economic, and legal reprisal$, resulting from our support and defense of the principles of intellectual freedom. Those who refuse to compromise their ideals in support of intellectual freedom have often suffered dismissals from employment, forced resignations, boycotts of products and establishments, and other invidious forms of punishment. We perceive the admirable, often lonely, refusal to succumb to threats of punitive action as the highest form of true professionalism: dedication to the cause of intellectual freedom and the preservation of vital human and civil liberties. In our various capacities, we will actively resist incursions against the full exercise of our professional responsibility for creating and maintaining an intellectual environment which fosters unrestrained creative endeavor and true freedom of choice and access for all members of the community. 65 -4' We state these propositions with conviction, not as easy generalizations. We advance a noble claim for the value of ideas, freely expressed, as embodied in books and other kinds of communications. We do this in our belief that a free intellectual climate fosters creative endeavors capable of enormous variety, beauty, and usefulness, and thUs worthy of Support and preservation. We recognize that application of these propositions may encourage the dissemination of ideas and forms of expression that will be frightening or abhorrent to some. We believe that what people read, view, and hear is a critically important issue. We recognize, too, that ideas can be dangerous. It may be, however, that they are effectually dangerous only when opposing ideas are suppressed. Freedom, in its many facets, is a precarious course. We espouse it heartily. ". Adopted by the American Library Association Council, June 25,1971, Endorsed by the Freedom to Read Foundation, &Nlrd of Trustees, June 18, 1971. 66 ..