A 2000 revision of the list that originally appeared in American Libraries in December 1995. And librarians know what it takes to provide comprehensive access to every recorded detail of human existence. It takes support. Libraries are ready when they are needed, ready to enrich our minds and defend our right to know, just as other institutions protect our safety and property. Without sound minds, however, the American dream of safe streets and secure homes will never be fulfilled.
Libraries safeguard our freedom and keep democracy healthy.
It will take all of us, in a spirit of pride and freedom, to maintain libraries as a living reality in a free nation into the 21st century. Libraries inform citizens. Democracy vests supreme power in the people. Libraries make democracy work by providing access to information so that citizens can make the decisions necessary to govern themselves. The public library is the only institution in American society whose purpose is to guard against the tyrannies of ignorance and conformity, and its existence indicates the extent to which a democratic society values knowledge, truth, justice, books, and culture.