Material Review and Reconsideration Policy

Professional library staff of the Guilford Free Library select materials, craft displays and organize programs that represent a wide variety of opinions and perspectives, which can apply to important, complex, and controversial questions.  Language, situations, or subjects that may be offensive to some community members do not disqualify material, the value of which is determined in its entirety and measured against the selection guidelines in the library’s Collection Development Policy, and also enshrined in individual rights outlined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, in the Library Bill of Rights and in the Freedom to Read Statement of the ALA. All library materials are evaluated and made accessible in accordance with the protections against discrimination set forth in section 46a-64 of the general statutes.

The library welcomes expressions of opinion concerning materials, programs or displays. In accordance with Public Act 25-168 Sec. 322, 323 , Guilford Free Library abides by the following statutory requirements:

• No library material, display or program shall be removed, or programs be cancelled, because of origin, background or viewpoints expressed in such material, display or program or because of the origin, background or viewpoints of the creator of such material, display or program
• The Library prohibits the removal, exclusion or censoring of any book on the sole basis that an individual finds such book offensive.
• Library materials, displays and programs shall only be excluded for legitimate professionally accepted standards of collection maintenance practices as adopted in the collection development and maintenance policy or the display and program policy
• The materials review and reconsideration process for library cardholders/town residents to challenge any library material, display or program shall neither favor nor disfavor any group based on protected characteristics.
• The cardholder or resident completing a reconsideration form must include specific information about the portion or portions of material to which they object and provide an explanation of the reasons for such objection. The Request for Reconsideration form must include the individual’s full legal name, address and telephone number.
• Reconsideration requests are not confidential patron records under section 11-25 of the general statutes.
• Any library material being challenged will remain available in the library according to its catalog record and be available for a resident to reserve, check out or access until a final decision is made by the library director.

Any librarian or staff member of a public library who, in good faith, implements the policies described in this section shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed and shall have the same immunity with respect to any judicial proceeding that results from such implementation.

Review Process

Anyone who wishes to request that a specific item be reconsidered for inclusion in the collection, in a display or in a library program is asked to complete a Request for Reconsideration Form.

The library director will evaluate the request for reconsideration form, read the challenged material in its entirety, evaluate the challenged material against the collection development and maintenance policy and make a written decision on whether or not to remove the challenged material not later than sixty days from the date of receiving such request. The Director will inform the resident in writing, within sixty days of the receipt of the initial request, of the decision made regarding the retention or removal of the material or program.

Appeals are permitted and will be submitted by written request to the Library’s Board of Trustees within 30 days of the Director’s decision. All Board decisions are final. Materials under review remain in the collection during the reconsideration process.

Once the director communicates his or her decision regarding the reconsideration of any library material, such  material cannot be subject to a new request for reconsideration for a period of three years. Similarly, the director retains the right to consolidate any requests for reconsideration of the same challenged library material.

The Library Board shall:

1. consult with (i) the library director, (ii) the State Librarian, or the State Librarian’s designee, (iii) a representative of the cooperating library service unit, as defined in section 11-9e of the general statutes, (iv) the president of the Connecticut Library Association, or the president’s designee, and (v) the president of the Association of Connecticut Library Boards, or the president’s designee,
2. deliberate on such request for reconsideration,
3. provide a written statement of the reasons for the reconsideration or refusal to reconsider the library material, and
4. provide any final decision that is contrary to the decision of the library director.

A resource that has previously been reconsidered by request shall be exempt from additional requests for reconsideration for three years following being retained in the Library’s collection despite a formal request for reconsideration. The Library Director shall summarize the previous decision in response to any new request for reconsideration during that three-year time period.

In the interest of protecting the individual’s right to have access to materials, the Library supports the following documents:

• First Amendment of the Constitution
• Library Bill of Rights – Adopted June 19, 1939. Amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 23, 1980; January 29, 2019; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996, by the ALA Council.
• The Freedom to Read Statement – Adopted June 25, 1953; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee.