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Library director frames ‘intellectual freedom’ as core value, outlines complaint and collection process
Summary
At the Iowa City Public Library board meeting, Director Anne Mangellum presented an overview of intellectual freedom, privacy protections under Iowa law, and the library's collection development and challenge-handling policies, urging trustees to rely on written policy rather than ad hoc removals.
Anne Mangellum, the newly appointed director of the Iowa City Public Library, told the board on the evening the library “is a manifestation of an important democratic value, which is intellectual freedom,” and summarized how that value guides decisions about what the library collects and makes available to the public.
Mangellum cited the American Library Association definition of intellectual freedom and the Library Bill of Rights as the profession’s guiding principles. She told trustees the library’s role includes protecting patron privacy and following state law on library records, and she noted the State Library of Iowa’s trustee handbook instructs boards to “protect and defend intellectual freedom.”
The director…
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