Reality Bites: The Collision of Rhetoric, Rights, and Reality and the Library Bill of Rights

A~STRACT THISARTICLE SUGGESTS THAT THE LIBRARY PROFESSION examine the Library Bill of Rights and remove from it those statements which do not represent current legal principles. Library professionals and their patrons must have available a clear statement of those First Amendment principles which receive legal support. A carefully edited document would serve as that statement. The material culled from the Library Bill of Rights may contribute to the creation of a second document which would represent the profession’s aspirational and inspirational creed. This creed, albeit lacking in legal support, might provide inspiration to library professionals and would provide them with a standard which goes beyond First Amendment mandate. It might be incorporated into the employment contract for library professionals, but it would not represent the current state of legal principles. This proposal separates rhetoric from rights to produce a set of principles which reflect reality.