This excerpt is from a forthcoming article for Information Professional by David McMenemy that will explore how censorship has impacted public libraries in the UK in previous generations. The excerpt focuses on the interpretations the Court provided of the Public Libraries and Museums Act in the 1980s related to the removal of materials in public libraries for political purposes.

A perusal of news sites and newspapers over the past few years would certainly confirm Malley’s hypothesis that when it comes to censorship issues, “there is no issue in librarianship which is more likely to bring libraries on to the pages of the press” (Malley, 1990, p.1). With such stakes at play it can often seem that each professional crisis of the moment is existential and necessitates new ways of thinking and presents hitherto unseen challenges that librarians have never faced before.

However, when it comes to censorship challenges in libraries there is rarely anything we have not seen before as a profession, and it is important that we are aware of our body of knowledge and previous historical experiences in this area to provide the necessary steel to deal with modern iterations of it with confidence. Ultimately, we are not alone in these challenges, and the collective support of our current colleagues, allied with the wisdom and experience of those who came before us, are both important in cementing our strength for any challenges that may come. - News International dispute (1986)

There is often justifiable shade thrown at the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 in terms of the vague concept within it of a “comprehensive and efficient” library service. Nevertheless, as interpreted by the Court in the dispute over the removal of News International publications from libraries in several Labour-party controlled council public library services during a major industrial dispute in 1986, the Act has given public libraries a significant legal basis for defending intellectual freedom and combating political censorship.

The industrial dispute between News International (NI) and several trade unions was instigated by NI ceasing production of its newspapers in Fleet Street premises and moving the production to a facility in Wapping, with subsequent refusal by trade union members to do so leading to their dismissal. The call to support the trade union members in their dispute was heeded by Labour councils, and over 30 councils in England, Scotland and Wales decided to remove NI publications from their libraries for the duration of the dispute.

This was a move that was both supported and disputed by the profession in the pages of the Library Association Record of the time, leading to a heated debate. Curry (1997) reports that some members feared that the action could set a dangerous precedent, leading to reciprocal bans by Tory councils in the future for political purposes they favoured. Members in agreement with the action suggested that censorship was an “inconsequential” price to pay when hard political choices were necessary, or that the action was not an intellectual freedom issue as it targeted owners of the publications, not the content, while some members argued that the purpose of the code of ethics of the time was not to “fetter” trade unionism, and as such the banning of the newspaper was a right action to show solidarity with other workers (Curry, 1997, p.218).

For its part, the Library Association was in opposition to the removal of the materials:

In our view it is manifestly not right that councillors should allow their personal opinions on a political or industrial matter to stand in the way of the right of access of the public to all publications which can reasonably be provided…. The Library Association is deeply concerned that the imposition of these bans constitutes a major breach of the traditional principles that public libraries should be a neutral and non-partisan service (LAR 88 (4) 1986, 163).

A judicial review was sought by the publisher and printer of the newspapers, the holding company of the newspapers, and residents in Camden, Hammersmith, Fulham, and Ealing.

You can read the full article in the next issue of Information Professional, out next month.

Curry, A. (1997). The Library Association Record and Censorship: A Content Analysis. Libri. 47 (4). pp.214-233.

Library Association Record, 88 (4), 1986, p.163.

Malley, I. (1990) Censorship and libraries. The Library Association.

R v London Borough of Ealing and others ex parte Times Newspapers Ltd and others (1987) IRLR 129