MPLA Access to Information Statement

The Mountain Plains Library Association (MPLA) represents librarians, library paraprofessionals and friends of libraries in our 12-state region. As a professional organization:

MPLA stands in support of the freedom to read, free speech, and unfettered access to information as inalienable rights protected by the First Amendment; and

MPLA supports librarians’ expertise in their selection of reading materials and provision of information resources to their patrons and communities. Professionally trained librarians use their expertise to purchase resources and books to develop collections appropriate for the communities they serve, while also allowing for the opportunity to learn about other populations or ideas that may be different from their own; and

Librarians around the world have studied S.R. Ranganathan’s five laws of library science, and MPLA would call out two of them:

• Law 3 states “Every book its reader” – MPLA interprets this to mean that all books have a place in the library, even if only a small demographic might choose to read them; and
• Law 5 states “A library is a growing organism” – MPLA supports everyone’s right to books and information; libraries should be a safe place where people can learn and grow; and a library should be a dynamic institution that is never static in its outlook