To Uphold and Resist: Protecting Intellectual Freedom through Progressive Librarianship: The Serials Librarian: Vol 73, No 1

"Public librarians uphold an ethical commitment to protect the intellectual freedom of their patrons, but when information is accessed online, users become vulnerable to censorship and surveillance. The public library is a democratic institution in which patrons should be able to interact with information free of restriction or judgment, and this right is threatened by the conflict between access and privacy. Librarians should reject the notion that they are neutral and instead adopt a political stance in defense of intellectual freedom; they should actively combat surveillance and limitations on access. A framework for activism can be found within Birdsall’s theory of progressive librarianship."