MLA's Censorship & Library Practices Tool Kit

Guest Post by Margaret Ansell, AHIP

The Medical Library Association (MLA) just released a Censorship & Library Practices Toolkit. 

A core value of librarianship is to provide accessible and trustworthy health information. However, institutional policies and regional and national laws often place limits on what information can be shared with library users. Navigating this conflict between our professional values and external rules can be a complex and difficult endeavor.  

The Censorship and Library Practices Toolkit provides resources that can assist health sciences librarians in establishing policies, procedures, and information resources that can help to minimize these potential conflicts and provide a solid basis for dealing with them when they arise. It includes:

• Tools to Track Legislation & Upcoming Issues
• Issue-Specific Resources
• Privacy
• Intellectual Freedom/Censorship
• Reproductive Health
• Sexual Health
• Sexual Health Information for Minors
• LGBTQ Health Information
• Social Determinants of Health
• State-Specific Resources
• Designing & Enacting Library Policies
• Recommended Policy Elements & Practices
• Example Policies
• Tips & Tricks for Enforcing Policies
• Note About Currency & Contribution

This brief article first appeared on the MLA Connect Newsletter on July 28, 2023.

Reprinted with Ms. Ansell's permission.