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re: library book banning
this was before the Web changed everything and pushed libraries near the bottom of any cultural battleground for free speech.
so cal - libraries/librarians remain at the forefront of free speech issues. Libraries are at the forefront of web free speech issues b/c libraries are not simply about books anymore.
The Patriot Act abuses of various amendments (privacy is as imp. as free speech in a democracy) have had impacts on libraries across the nation. Librarians have to deal with requests to ban books as well as requests to violate citizens' privacy - with the threat of prison as a consequence for the failure to comply. Speaking about these (specific) violations is also a crime. These violations have occurred, however, and as far as I know, a few librarians are the only ones who have challenged this act by speaking out.
Libraries pay for subscriptions to various reference dbs that are too expensive for one person to pay for by her/himself and they provide access to these dbs to patrons. Academic libraries constitute an entirely different sector - what's known as "the hidden web," with subscriptions to even more journals and other materials that most in this nation would have no access to at all without library services.
In addition, libraries stock media materials that may not be available, or not widely available, via business outlets as a service to patrons. Patrons may directly request particular materials and as many of those materials as is possible, within increasing budgetary constraints, are made available.
The groups that are traditionally the most vulnerable to being left behind by tech changes - the poor and the elderly - have access to computers and to instruction on how to use those computers through local libraries. Sometimes this is the only access poorer people have.
These are important functions of today's libraries. The idea that libraries are simply about hard-copy materials is outdated. Maintaining primary source documents is another important function of certain libraries, but not public ones.
