Protect Free Access to Knowledge Two of the professional values advanced by Lee Finks are stewardship and democratic values . If we don't do this, the culture of the present and past will be lost, which is a prospect that we cannot accept. This is a weighty responsibility and one that should be in the minds of all librarians. Our praiseworthy pursuit of the preservation of intellectual freedom for today's materials should, of course, be continued. However, it should be noted that allowing the records of the past to disappear is a kind of censorship.
Libraries are the collective archive of human achievement and the knowledge of the ages.
This important role must be at the forefront of any consideration of technological change. We believe in universal education and trust in the wisdom of an informed and knowledgeable citizenry. It is scarcely exaggerated to say that a truly free society without libraries freely available to all is an oxymoron. A society without uncensored libraries is a society open to tyranny. In our view, libraries must preserve all records of all societies and communities and make those records available to all.