Do you have questions on specific library polices?

The Dubuque County Library District (DCLD) provides public library services to residents and property-owners of the DCLD service area and residents of cities which have a signed contract with the Public Library Agency of Dubuque County. The DCLD service area includes the unincorporated areas of Dubuque County and cities which are members of DCLD. Checkout privileges are also offered to residents of cities participating in the State Library Open Access program.

The following cities are currently members of the Dubuque County Library District: Asbury, Epworth, Farley, Holy Cross, and Peosta.

The following cities currently have a signed contract with the Public Library Agency of Dubuque County: Balltown, Centralia, Luxemburg, and Rickardsville.

Service will not be denied or abridged because of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability or veteran status.

• Eligibility for service
  • DCLD offers library service at different levels of access based on the source of the patron’s eligibility for service. These levels of access are reflected in the library’s patron categories (detailed below). DCLD staff will determine each patron’s source of eligibility at account creation and renewal and assign or update the patron’s category accordingly.
  • Residents and property-owners of the DCLD service area or contracting cities shall be eligible for a full-service library card.
  • Iowa residents of communities participating in the State Library Open Access program shall be eligible for a limited-service library card.
  • Out-of-state residents may be eligible to purchase a temporary limited-service library card.
  • The use of library materials may be denied or limited for due cause, such as failure to return materials, failure to pay fines or fees, or destruction of library property. Failure to adhere to the Conduct in the Library policy may also be considered as cause for denial or limitation of service.
• Library card creation, renewal, and replacement
  • Any eligible person 13 years of age and over may register for a library card by presenting a valid photo ID. Additional proof of address may be required.
  • Any eligible person 12 years of age or under may register for a library card if accompanied by a parent or guardian who presents a valid photo ID. Additional proof of address may be required.
  • Library cards shall expire on a regular schedule. Expired cards are blocked from borrowing materials. An expired card shall be renewed by staff upon request from the patron after verifying and if need be updating the patron’s name and contact information.
  • The library shall issue a replacement library card upon request from the patron. There may be a fee for this replacement. The replacement of a library card is subject to the same ID and address verification requirements as the issuance of a new library card.
• Borrowing
  • Patrons are asked to present their library card when checking out materials. Additional verification of identity may be required for patrons checking out materials without their library card.
  • Possession of a library card is assumed to indicate permission from the card’s owner to check out materials on the associated account. For this reason, patrons are encouraged to report a lost or stolen library card promptly.
  • The library may place limits on borrowing due to demand, availability, and licensing agreements.
  • The library will neither institute nor enforce limits on borrowing based on content or intended audience.
• Holds
  • Patrons may request that an item be held for checkout at the branch of the patron’s choosing.
  • The library may limit how many holds a patron can place concurrently due to demand and availability.
  • Items will be held for a period of days, after which time they may be returned to regular circulation. The duration of this period shall be determined by staff based on availability and demand.
• Overdue materials
  • The library does not charge fines for the late return of borrowed materials.
  • The library may restrict borrowing privileges for any patron with an item 7 or more days overdue. Any such restriction will be lifted once all overdue materials are either returned or renewed.
  • When an item becomes 30 or more days overdue, the library may assume the item has been lost and charge the patron accordingly.
• Lost and damaged materials
  • When an item is lost or damaged while checked out to a patron, the library may charge the patron up to the replacement price of the item.
  • The library will not accept a replacement item in lieu of payment.
  • If the lost item is returned in good condition before the replacement price is paid, the replacement fee will be waived.
  • After the replacement fee for a lost item has been paid, the library will accept the item and issue a refund if the item is returned in good condition within 60 days of the payment date.
• Patron categories
  • The library’s established patron categories include the following:
    • Adult: Residents and property-owners of the DCLD service area or contracting cities who are 13 or more years old. This is a full-service card.
    • Juvenile: Residents and property-owners of the DCLD service area or contracting cities who are under 13 years old. This is a full-service card.
    • DCSD Student: Middle and secondary school students from the Dubuque Community School District granted library accounts via the Public Library Student Access Program. This card allows the patron to borrow up to 3 items at a time and to access some electronic resources.
    • Open Access Adult: Residents of cities participating in the State Library Open Access program who are 13 or more years old. This card allows full use of print materials but generally does not allow the use of electronic resources outside of the library.
    • Open Access Juvenile: Residents of cities participating in the State Library Open Access program who are under 13 years old. This card allows full use of print materials but generally does not allow the use of electronic resources outside of the library.
    • Open Access Care Facility: Residents of a care facility located in a city participating in the State Library Open Access program. This card allows full use of print materials but generally does not allow the use of electronic resources outside of the library. Lending limits and periods are adjusted to accommodate scheduled visits.
    • Organization: Registered day care facilities or senior living centers located in the DCLD service area or contracting cities. This card allows the use of print materials with alternate lending limits and periods for extended borrowing and use by a group of patrons.
    • Temporary: Patrons without a permanent address. This card expires after 1 month and allows the patron to borrow up to 3 items at a time.
    • Guest: Visitors to the community may purchase a guest card. This card expires after 1 month and allows the patron to borrow up to 3 items at a time.
  • The library may establish additional patron categories as needed in order to enforce circulation policies and procedures.
• Lending limits
  • Patrons in the Temporary and Guest categories may have up to three items checked out at one time.
  • No patron may have more than one hotspot checked out at one time.
  • No patron may have more than one laptop checked out at one time.
  • No patron may have more than one Chromebook checked out at one time.
• Lending periods and renewals
  • Standard lending periods and renewal allowances are as follows:
    • Print books and audiobooks may be borrowed for 3 weeks at a time and renewed twice.
    • Games & Puzzles, Magazines, DVDs, and Blu-rays may be borrowed for 1 week at a time and renewed twice.
    • Chromebooks may be borrowed for 3 weeks and renewed twice.
    • Hotspots may be borrowed for 1 week and may not be renewed.
    • Laptops may be borrowed for 2 hours at a time and may be renewed once.
  • Library staff may extend lending periods and grant extra renewals based on extenuating circumstances.
  • Renewals shall not be allowed on items for which another patron has requested a hold.
  • Items borrowed from other libraries via interlibrary loan may be subject to alternate lending periods and renewal limits and may incur fines if not returned on or before their due date. Interlibrary loan services are only available to patrons in the categories Adult, Juvenile, Open Access Adult, and Open Access Juvenile.

Related policies: Privacy and Confidentiality

Adopted 11/15/2022

Revised 12/20/2022

Revised 5/16/2023

Revised 7/18/2023

Purpose

The Dubuque County Library District (DCLD) works to maintain a useful, well-rounded collection to support the library’s mission and meet the needs of residents of the Library’s service area. This policy exists to guide librarians in selecting materials and to inform the public about the principles guiding collection development decisions.

Inclusion of materials in the collection does not constitute endorsement of their contents. The library recognizes that any given item may offend some patrons. However, because the library follows accepted principles of intellectual freedom, it will not remove specific titles solely because individuals or groups may find them objectionable. The library subscribes to the principles contained in the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and its interpretations, and the Freedom to Read Statement (see Appendices). These documents have been affirmed by the DCLD board and are considered part of the Library’s policies.

Responsibility

Through this policy, the DCLD board places ultimate authority for materials selection with the library director, to be exercised based on the precepts laid out here. The director may delegate portions of these duties to library staff as desired.

Digital Materials

When possible, digital materials are selected in accordance with this policy. However, digital materials may be provided through a content aggregator. As such, the inclusion or exclusion of specific titles in these collections are made by the vendor and may not conform to this policy’s guidelines.

Selection Guidelines

Selection of books and/or materials shall be made on the basis of the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the communities served. Materials will not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. Items considered for selection are evaluated as a whole, not on the basis of a particular section or sections.

Price, accuracy and timeliness of information are other factors influencing selection. The library does not typically purchase out-of-print material for the collection, and no attempt is made to purchase all the works by particular authors. As a general rule, the library will acquire only works of interest to the layperson. The library does not support educational curricula through the purchase of textbooks. Borrowing materials from other libraries through interlibrary loan is another option available to customers for older or unique materials.

However, textbooks may be added to the collection if they provide the best, or only, sources of information on a subject, or if they complement an existing area with another perspective.

Materials may be available in a variety of formats. Factors governing the choice of format include anticipated use, ease of access, and availability of technology, if applicable.

The library welcomes suggestions from the public for materials to purchase. Such requests are typically fulfilled, assuming the desired item meets general selection guidelines established here.

Gifts

DCLD welcomes donations to enhance the collection. Donated items become the property of the library. All donations to the library are accepted on the condition that they may be retained and added to the collections or disposed of at its sole discretion, in accordance with this policy. Monetary donations intended for use in purchasing materials may be accompanied by a suggested subject area, but specific selection decisions will be made in accordance with this policy.

Withdrawal of Materials

Materials that are worn, damaged, outdated, duplicated, or no longer used may be removed from the collection. Materials withdrawn from the collection in this manner will be disposed of at the library’s discretion.

Statements of Concern

Should a patron of DCLD take issue with the inclusion of a specific title in the library collection, they are encouraged to contact the library director to arrange to discuss these concerns. Should that discussion prove unfeasible or fail to address the patron’s concerns, they may complete and submit a “Statement of Concern about Library Resources” form (available at all branches). For further details, please see the Statements of Concern policy.

Appendix 1

The Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

1. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
2. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
3. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

VII. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.

Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; January 29, 2019.

Inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

Appendix 2

Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices.

Following are those documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights and background statements detailing the philosophy and history of each. For convenience and easy reference, the documents are presented in alphabetical order. These documents are policies of the American Library Association, having been adopted by the ALA Council.

Access to Digital Resources and Services: Digital resources and services allow libraries to significantly expand the scope of information available to users. Like all resources and services provided by the library, provision of access to digital resources and services should follow the principles outlined in the Library Bill of Rights to ensure equitable access regardless of content or platform. Amended 2019

Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors: Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users. Amended 2019

Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, or Sexual Orientation: The American Library Association stringently and unequivocally maintains that libraries and librarians have an obligation to resist efforts that systematically exclude materials dealing with any subject matter, including sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Amended 2020

Access to Resources and Services in the School Library: The school library plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom. It serves as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in a pluralistic society. Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shapes the resources and services of a school library, the principles of the Library Bill of Rights apply equally to all libraries, including school libraries. Amended 2014

Challenged Resources: ALA declares as a matter of firm principle that it is the responsibility of every library to have a clearly defined written policy for collection development that includes a procedure for review of challenged resources. Amended 2019

Diverse Collections: Collection development should reflect the philosophy inherent in Article I of the Library Bill of Rights: “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” A diverse collection should contain content by and about a wide array of people and cultures to authentically reflect a variety of ideas, information, stories, and experiences. Amended 2019

Economic Barriers to Information Access: All resources provided directly or indirectly by the library, regardless of format or method of delivery, should be readily and equitably accessible to all library users. Imposing any financial barrier may disadvantage users, and libraries of all types—public, school, and academic—should consider eliminating barriers that limit access to library resources and other services. Amended 2019

Education and Information Literacy: Libraries and library workers foster education and lifelong learning by promoting free expression and facilitating the exchange of ideas among users. Libraries use resources, programming, and services to strengthen access to information and thus build a foundation of intellectual freedom. In their roles as educators, library workers create an environment that nurtures intellectual freedom in all library resources and services. Amended 2019

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion: Libraries are essential to democracy and self-government, to personal development and social progress, and to every individual’s inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To that end, libraries and library workers should embrace equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything that they do. Adopted 2017

Evaluating Library Collections: Libraries continually develop their collections by adding and removing resources to maintain collections of current interest and usefulness to their communities. Libraries should adopt collection development and maintenance policies that include criteria for evaluating materials. Amended 2019

Expurgation of Library Materials: Expurgating library materials is a violation of the Library Bill of Rights. Expurgation as defined by this interpretation includes any deletion, excision, alteration, editing, or obliteration of any part(s) of books or other library resources by the library, its agent, or its parent institution (if any). Amended 2014

Internet Filtering: The negative effects of content filters on Internet access in public libraries and schools are demonstrable and documented. Consequently, consistent with previous resolutions, the American Library Association cannot recommend filtering. However the ALA recognizes that local libraries and schools are governed by local decision makers and local considerations and often must rely on federal or state funding for computers and internet access. Because adults and, to a lesser degree minors, have First Amendment rights, libraries and schools that choose to use content filters should implement policies and procedures that mitigate the negative effects of filtering to the greatest extent possible. The process should encourage and allow users to ask for filtered websites and content to be unblocked, with minimal delay and due respect for user privacy. Adopted 2015

Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries: A strong intellectual freedom perspective is critical to the development of academic library collections and services that dispassionately meet the education and research needs of a college or university community. The purpose of this statement is to outline how and where intellectual freedom principles fit into an academic library setting, thereby raising consciousness of the intellectual freedom context within which academic librarians work. Amended 2014

Labeling Systems: Prejudicial labeling systems assume that the libraries have the institutional wisdom to determine what is appropriate or inappropriate for its users to access. They presuppose that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. The American Library Association opposes the use of prejudicial labeling systems and affirms the rights of individuals to form their own opinions about resources they choose to read, view, listen to, or otherwise access. Adopted 2015

Library-Initiated Programs and Displays as a Resource: Library-initiated programs and displays utilize library worker expertise for community interests, collections, services, facilities, and providing access to information and information resources. They introduce users and potential users to library resources and the library’s role as a facilitator of information access. Concerns, questions, or complaints about library-initiated programs and displays are handled according to the same written policy and procedures that govern reconsiderations of other library resources. These policies should apply equally to all people, including, but not limited to, library users, staff, and members of the governing body.  Amended 2019

Meeting Rooms: Many libraries provide meeting rooms and other spaces designated for use by the public for meetings and other events as a service to their communities. Article VI of the Library Bill of Rights states, “Libraries which make … meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.” Amended 2019

Minors and Online Activity: The online environment offers opportunities for accessing, creating, and sharing information. The rights of minors to retrieve, create, and interact with information posted on the Internet in schools and libraries are extensions of their First Amendment rights. Amended 2019

Politics in American Libraries: The Library Bill of Rights specifically states that “all people” and “all points of view” should be included in library materials and information. There are no limiting qualifers for viewpoint, origin, or politics. Adopted 2017

Prisoners’ Right to Read: ALA asserts a compelling public interest in the preservation of intellectual freedom for individuals of any age held in jails, prisons, detention facilities, juvenile facilities, immigration facilities, prison work camps, and segregated units within any facility, whether public or private. Amended 2019

Privacy: All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. The American Library Association affirms that rights of privacy are necessary for intellectual freedom and are fundamental to the ethical practice of librarianship. Amended 2019

Rating Systems:  Rating systems are tools or labels devised by individuals or organizations to advise people regarding suitability or content of materials. Rating systems appearing in library catalogs or discovery systems present distinct challenges to intellectual freedom principles. The American Library Association affirms the rights of individuals to form their own opinions about resources they choose to read or view. Amended 2019

Religion in American Libraries: The First Amendment guarantees the right of individuals to believe and practice their religion or practice no religion at all and prohibits government from establishing or endorsing a religion or religions. Thus the freedom of, for and from religion, are similarly guaranteed. Adopted 2016

Restricted Access to Library Materials: Libraries are a traditional forum for the open exchange of information. Attempts to restrict access to library materials violate the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights. Amended 2014

Services to People with Disabilities: Libraries should be fully inclusive of all members of their community and strive to break down barriers to access. The library can play a transformational role in helping facilitate more complete participation in society by providing fully accessible resources and services. Amended 2018

Universal Right to Free Expression: Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government. Freedom of expression encompasses the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, and association, and the corollary right to receive information. Amended 2014

User-Generated Content in Library Discovery Systems: Libraries offer a variety of discovery systems to provide access to the resources in their collections.  Such systems can include online public access catalogs (OPAC), library discovery products, institutional repositories, and archival systems. With the widespread use of library technology that incorporates social media components, intelligent objects, and knowledge-sharing tools comes the ability of libraries to provide greater opportunities for patron engagement in those discovery systems through user-generated content.  These features may include the ability of users to contribute commentary such as reviews, simple point-and-click rating systems (e.g. one star to five stars), or to engage in extensive discussions or other social interactions. This kind of content could transform authoritative files, alter information architecture, and change the flow of information within the library discovery system. Amended 2019

User-Initiated Exhibits, Displays, and Bulletin Boards: Libraries may offer spaces for exhibits, displays, and bulletin boards in physical or digital formats as a benefit for their communities. The use of these spaces should conform to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. Amended 2019

Visual and Performing Arts in Libraries: Visual images and performances in the library should not be restricted based on content. Librarians and library staff should be proactive in seeking out a wide variety of representational and abstract artwork and performance art, with limitations or parameters set only with respect to space, installation, fiscal, and technical constraints. Adopted 2018

Appendix 3

The Freedom to Read Statement

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.

Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.

Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.

2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.

Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.

3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.

No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.

4. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.

To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.

5. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.

The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.

6. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.

It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental prerogative or self-censorship.

7. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.

The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.

Adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.

A Joint Statement by:

American Library Association

Association of American Publishers

Subsequently endorsed by:

American Booksellers for Free Expression

The Association of American University Presses

The Children’s Book Council

Freedom to Read Foundation

National Association of College Stores

National Coalition Against Censorship

National Council of Teachers of English

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

Adopted 12/20/2022

The Dubuque County Library provides public access to the Internet in order to augment the resources made available to our users. These policies apply to the use of library-owned equipment as well as to the use of patrons’ personal electronic devices to access the Internet via the library’s public Wi-Fi or circulating hotspots.

• Use of the Library’s equipment and Internet connection in an illegal, disruptive or destructive manner may result in the loss of Internet or library privileges.
  • A first violation of this policy may result in the loss of library privileges for a minimum of five business days.
  • A second violation of this policy may result in the loss of library privileges for 15 business days and the loss of library computer privileges for 30 days.
  • A third such instance may result in the loss of library privileges or library computer privileges for a period of up to one year.
  • These penalties may be appealed to the Library Board of Trustees.
• Time limits are placed on library equipment in order to provide access to as many users as possible. Users are expected to comply with posted and verbal instruction regarding time limits.
• The Library does not filter Internet content. Staff may, however, limit images displayed on screens in order to ensure the secure and comfortable environment of the Library.
• The Library is not responsible for enforcing any restrictions which a parent or guardian may place on a minor’s use of the Internet or library equipment.
• The Library is not responsible for the accuracy and/or authenticity of information discovered through the Internet.
• The Library is not responsible for work or information lost due to computer, network, or software malfunction.
• The Library cannot guarantee privacy or confidentiality of information transmitted over the Internet.
• Users are expected to be knowledgeable in basic computer use. While the Library may occasionally present computer classes or other instructional programming, in-depth computer assistance is generally not available.
• Users are responsible for the configuration of their personal electronic devices for use with the Library’s Internet connection.
• Users are responsible for complying with United States Copyright Law, and all other applicable federal, state and local laws relating to the use of the Internet and electronic media.

  Adopted 10/18/2022

The purpose of the Conduct Policy is to maintain a safe and pleasant environment for all library patrons and staff. It also ensures access to library facilities, and the protection of library collections, equipment, and facilities.

Prohibited conduct is behavior that is illegal or that:

• Interferes with the rights of individuals to use Library materials, services and premises.
  • The term “premises” includes: inside and outside areas of Library property and the library website and social media accounts.
• Interferes with the ability of Library staff to conduct Library business, or
• Threatens the safe and comfortable environment of the Library or the safety of any person on Library premises.

Prohibited conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Failure to follow directions from staff and written policies of the library.
• Interfering with staff members’ or volunteers’ performance of duties. This includes conversation or behavior that monopolizes the attention of a staff member or volunteer for an inappropriate period of time; inappropriate personal comments, sexual advances, or verbal or physical harassment; or refusal to comply with staff requests.
• Behaving in a loud, boisterous or disruptive manner.
• Willfully annoying, harassing, or threatening another person.
• Fighting or challenging to fight, running, pushing, shoving or throwing items.
• Using a cell phone, pager, audio player or other electronic device in a manner that disrupts library use or operations.
• Bringing animals into the library, except service animals, unless authorized by the Director or designee.
• Failure to sufficiently supervise children or other vulnerable patrons according to the Vulnerable Patron policy.
• Campaigning, petitioning, interviewing, survey taking, soliciting, posting notices, fundraising, advertising, or selling, unless authorized by the Director or designee.
• Using the library building, furniture or equipment in a manner that could cause harm to self, patrons, staff, or personal or public property.
• Using skates, a skateboard or other sporting equipment in the library.
• Consuming food or beverages in such a way that could damage the library building, materials or furniture.
• Having offensive hygiene, odor or scent that constitutes a nuisance to other persons.
• Using the library, including restrooms, for bathing, hair washing, or doing laundry.
• Sleeping is permitted as long as it does not interfere with other patrons’ use of the library through excessive noise, relocating or rearranging furniture, or by impeding passageways or access to library material. Sleeping on the floor of the library or the grounds is not permitted. Sleeping patrons may occasionally be woken up by library staff to ensure there is not a medical emergency.
• Impeding access to the building or an area of the building or blocking book stack aisles for extended periods of time.
• Leaving animals, bicycles or personal items in library entrances or walkways.
• Leaving unattended personal items in the building. The Library assumes no responsibility for lost, stolen, or unattended personal items. Items left unattended may be removed and taken to the service desk.
• Failure to exit the building at closing.
• Entering non-public areas or entering or leaving the building through non-public entrances and exits, unless accompanied by a staff member or through prior authorization from a staff member.
• Entering or remaining on library premises after having been notified by library staff not to do so or when library privileges have been suspended.
• Illegal possession, use, or threat of use of dangerous weapons as defined in the Code of Iowa Section 702.7
• Using cigarettes, e-cigarettes, chewing tobacco or other products containing tobacco or nicotine. Possessing, consuming, selling or being under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs or other substances.

Consequences

Failure to comply with the Conduct Policy may result in a suspension with loss of library privileges up to and including being banned, for one day or more, from the library. Suspensions of more than one day must be authorized by the Library Director or designee and will include a written statement documenting behavior and noting the terms of the suspension. When the suspended individual is a minor, the parent(s) or guardian(s) may be contacted if possible.  Suspensions may be appealed to the Library Director or the Library Board of Trustees.

Minor Violations

Minor Violations are typically handled by library staff.

• 1st Offense = Warning/Leave building - suspension of library privileges for the current day
• 2nd Offense = 3-day suspension of library privileges
• 3rd Offense = 7-day suspension of library privileges
• 4th Offense = 14-day suspension of library privileges

Accumulation of violations will be measured on a 30-day rolling basis.

Major Violations 

Major violations are typically handled by the Director and, if warranted, local law enforcement.   Examples of Major Violations:

• Possessing, consuming, selling or being under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs or other substances.
• Fighting with or physically assaulting staff or other patrons.
• Improper use or destruction of property including but not limited to:
• Vandalism or destruction of library materials or facilities or the personal property of library patrons or staff
• Maliciously altering, deleting, damaging, or destroying any computer, peripheral, network, computer program, or data.

Appeal Procedure 

Any patron whose library privileges are suspended for more than one day can appeal the suspension by:

1. Contacting the Library Director. After reviewing applicable policy, incident documentation, and/or meeting with the patron, the suspension period may be terminated or shortened, or the suspension may remain in place. The patron will be informed of the Library Administration decision in the most expedient fashion—via telephone call, email, or mailed letter.
2. The patron may appeal the determination of the Library Director to the Library Board of Trustees via a written notice of appeal within 10 days after receipt of the determination. The notice of appeal shall be filed with the Library Director. The Library Board of Trustees will hold a hearing to discuss the suspension at their next regularly scheduled meeting. A parent or guardian is highly encouraged to accompany a minor (under the age of 18) to the hearing.
3. The Library Board of Trustees will hear the appeal and will vote to uphold or dismiss the suspension. Library Administration will notify the patron by letter of the decision of the Library Board of Trustees. The suspension will remain in effect until the Board’s decision. The Library Board of Trustee’s decision will be final.

Related Policies: Computer & Internet Use, Meeting Room, Vulnerable Patron

Adopted 5/26/2015

Reviewed and revised 8/20/2019

Reviewed and revised 1/23/24

Fire 

Staff should be familiar with the locations of fire exits, fire extinguishers and fire alarms in their building.

Should fire alarms go off, and/or should smoke or fire be seen in a library facility, staff should immediately pull a fire alarm bar if present, and call 911 to report the emergency. If conditions permit, staff should then clear all patrons from the building. Unless a fire is small and appears easy to contain with a fire extinguisher, staff should not attempt to fight the fire.

If fire alarms go off, patrons and staff should evacuate and gather in the following locations:

• Asbury: parking lot along Asbury Road.
• Farley: Memorial Hall front steps
• Epworth: Pavilion across the parking lot to the south
• Holy Cross: Main Street Market parking lot

Peosta/NICC should follow school procedures and directions for building evacuation and gathering location.

Under no circumstances should staff or patrons return to the building until authorized to do so by the fire department.

Tornado Warning

In the event that a tornado warning is issued (as indicated by either NOAA weather radio or an automated phone call from Alert Iowa) staff at each DCLD branch should notify patrons of the warning and encourage them to go to the shelter as quickly as possible. Patrons must go to the shelter or immediately leave the library facility. Unattended children should accompany staff to the shelter. Staff should quickly check restrooms for patrons if possible. Staff should then take the weather radio/flashlight, red county emergency bag, and a cell phone with them and direct patrons into the shelter. Exterior doors should remain unlocked. Shelter locations are as follows:

• Asbury: building basement
• Epworth: restrooms
• Farley: restrooms
• Holy Cross: building basement
• Peosta: building basement (designated shelter)

Staff will monitor the storm and all should remain in place until an all-clear is issued.

Peosta/NICC staff should follow school procedures and directions during school hours.

Should a facility sustain storm damage, staff should attempt to contact the Director as soon as possible. The Director will contact local officials.

Should a severe thunderstorm warning be issued, the library will remain open as usual. Direct patrons to stay away from windows. Staff should monitor the weather for updates. Should sirens sound or the NOAA weather radio indicate severe thunderstorms with winds of 70 MPH or higher, respond to such as for a tornado warning, above.

Winter Storm

The Director or designee will decide whether to close any or all branches for winter storms. Unless staff have been informed that a branch is closed, they should assume it is open and make every effort to report to work. If a staff member feels that attempting to do so could seriously compromise their safety, or discovers en route that conditions are too dangerous, they may, per the union contract, elect to take vacation for time missed or make arrangements to make up the time, and must contact the Director as soon as possible.

The Director will notify all staff as soon as possible in the event of a system-wide or individual branch closure. Closures will be reported to KCRG, KWWL, KDST, KDTH, and WDBQ as well as to the Telegraph-Herald.

Power Failure

In the event of a power failure lasting longer than 15 minutes, staff should attempt to contact the appropriate city/institution officials to find out if there is knowledge of, and an estimated duration for the event. If power is to be out longer than one hour, staff should contact the Director and inform them of the situation. The Director will determine whether or not to close the facility.  At Asbury, any groups scheduled to use the Asbury programming room should be notified of a closure, if possible.

Peosta/NICC staff will follow school policies and procedures.

Medical Emergencies

Staff should call 911 and explain the emergency. 911 may ask you to stay on the line, and may provide specific instructions. If so, follow them.

Unless specially trained (CPR, etc.) library staff should not administer first aid of even a minor nature out of concern for the safety of the injured individual. Staff should typically do no more than keep a sick or injured individual comfortable and protected from needless disturbance until medical help arrives.

No medication, including aspirin, acetaminophen, or antibiotic ointment should ever be dispensed to the public.

Staff should notify the Director of any medical emergency occurring at the library as soon as feasible.

Revised 6/21/22

Revised 9/29/22

BORROWER RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Library items may be reserved at the public service desk of any branch, over the phone or via the online catalog. You will then be notified when a request has become available for check out. Most reserve items are held at the desk for one week.

Possession of a library card is assumed to indicate permission from the card’s owner to check out materials on the associated account.

If a card is lost or stolen, patrons should notify the library as soon as possible in order for the card number to be registered as lost. There may be a fee for this replacement. A photo ID is required to replace a lost or stolen library card or to retrieve a lost and found card.

Please report any changes to name, address or phone to the library, so we may update your record.

The library cannot withhold materials from any patron, regardless of age. It is the responsibility of the parents to monitor their children’s use of library materials.

The library may restrict borrowing privileges for any patron with an item 7 or more days overdue. Any such restriction will be lifted once all overdue materials are either returned or renewed.

When an item becomes 30 or more days overdue, the library may assume the item has been lost and charge the patron accordingly.

Borrowers will be charged for any materials that are lost or damaged beyond repair. The library will refund payment on lost items subsequently returned within 60 days of payment.

The use of library materials may be denied for due cause such as: failure to return books, pay fines, destruction of library property, disturbance of other patrons, or any other objectionable conduct.

Loan Periods

Books and audiobooks are loaned for 3 weeks with 2 possible renewals.

BLU-Rays, DVDs, games, puzzles, magazines, Chromebooks and hotspots are loaned for 1 week. 1 renewal is allowed for games, puzzles and Chromebooks and 2 renewals on BLU-rays, DVDs, and magazines. Hotspots have 0 renewals.

An item that has been placed on hold by another patron may not be renewed.

Borrowers will be notified of overdue items via email, text message or mail.

Guest, Temporary, and DCSD Student borrowers are limited to 3 items checked-out at a time.

In accordance with Chapter 692A.113 of the Code of Iowa, any sex offender convicted of a sex offense against a minor is prohibited from being present upon the real property of a public library and may not loiter within three hundred feet of the real property boundary of a public library. This policy adopts the prohibitions and exceptions laid out in the Code of Iowa.

There are two exceptions to this law. A sex offender who has been convicted of a sex offense against a minor may be present: 1) during the period of time reasonably necessary to transport the offender’s own minor child or ward to or from the library; and 2) during the period of time reasonably necessary to vote in a public election if the polling place is located in the library.

The Library Director may give written permission for sex offenders convicted of sex offenses against minors to be present on library property, as allowed by Iowa Code (Section 692A.113(f)).  Individuals may appeal the decision to grant or withhold such written permission, as it relates to them, to the Library Board of Trustees.

Sex offenders convicted of sex offenses against minors may be eligible for library service, depending on their residential address. They may register for a card directly via telephone or email with the Circulation Coordinator or via USPS mail.  They will choose a designee and make arrangements for that person to select, check out, and return materials using that card. Under any circumstances a sex offender convicted of sex offenses against minors will remain responsible for all activity on their card, as is the case with any other library user.  They may access information resources via telephone or online.

Issuance of a library card to a sex offender convicted of sex offenses against minors does not constitute written permission from the library director for that offender to be present on library property.

Violations of this policy will be immediately reported to law enforcement, and violators may lose all library privileges.

Adopted 2/19/2018

Revised 10/19/2021

Revised 8/10/2022

The Dubuque County Library District offers meeting rooms as part of its mission to serve as a community resource. Meeting rooms are made available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use. Provision of meeting and study rooms does not constitute an endorsement by the library of the content of the program or the views expressed by the participants. Groups using the meeting room should clearly indicate in their advertisements and news releases who is sponsoring the event.

This policy applies to the scheduling and use of the programming and study room in the Asbury branch for non-profit educational, civic, cultural, governmental, or informational events. Use of the Asbury programming room for other purposes is administered by the City of Asbury. Use of meeting rooms at the NICC/Peosta branch is administered by NICC.

Organizations using the meeting rooms may not charge admission fees other than regular membership dues. Events open to the public must be free of charge to attendees.

Meeting room reservations will be taken no more than three months in advance. Individuals or groups may reserve the programming room up to twice a month.

The study room may be reserved for up to two hours a day, three days a week. Study room reservations will be taken up to one month in advance. The study room is also available for walk-in use, which shall not count toward the daily or weekly limits on reserved use.

The library’s Conduct Policy applies to the use of the meeting rooms.

Those using a room must return it to its original arrangement and condition. Failure to do so may lead to the group or individual who reserved the room being denied future use of the meeting room and the assessment of a cleaning charge.

Terms of this policy may not apply to events sponsored by the library or Friends of the Dubuque County Library District.

Priority for room use and reservation is given to the City of Asbury and the Library. Cancellations of or adjustments to meeting room use are made at the discretion of the Asbury City Administrator or the Library Director.

Related Policies: Conduct in the Library

Adopted 4/18/23

Revised 10/15/24

Use of Personal Vehicles and Mileage Reimbursement Policy

All employees using their personal vehicles for Library business must provide upon request to the Library Director proof of insurance.  Coverage must have a minimum of $100,000/$300,000 combined single limit coverage for bodily injury and property damage.

All employees required to use their personal cars while engaged in Library business are entitled to reimbursement subject to approval by the Library Director.

Mileage reimbursement does not include the normal commute to and from work. Mileage reimbursement will cover only those miles driven above and beyond the employee’s commute to his/her assigned branch.  When library business driving originates from home, staff must subtract the distance between home and the assigned branch from the total miles logged.

Staff members working in multiple locations, such as for programs, will receive reimbursement for mileage in excess of the round-trip distance driven between the staff member’s residence and their assigned branch.  “Assigned branch” is defined as the library branch(es) where a staff member is scheduled on a regular basis by the Library Director.

Any staff member who is sent to another branch as an emergency substitute, for required meetings, or training qualifies for reimbursement.  Substitute assignments of two weeks or more will be considered as an additional assigned branch.  For staff meetings, the location of the meeting is the employee’s assigned branch for the time of the meeting.

The exception to this policy is the regular courier route between branches.  The courier may request mileage reimbursement for the miles traveled for delivering materials between the branches excluding the miles from his/her home to the first branch location.  The courier shall drive the most efficient route between the branches on this regular delivery schedule.

Employees must note the date, point of departure, point of destination, and the purpose for each trip.  Employees are entitled to reimbursement for parking expenses incurred in the course of Library business away from their assigned office or branch.

The rate of reimbursement per mile is established by the Internal Revenue Service.

Mileage report forms must be submitted monthly, one week previous to the date of the monthly board meeting.

Forms must include the total miles driven and the total amount of reimbursement requested.  For consistency and accuracy, use Google Maps to determine distances, not vehicle odometers.  Forms must be signed and dated.

Adopted by the Board of Trustees 4/17/2017

As an agency of Dubuque County, the Dubuque County Library District follows the personnel policies of the County of Dubuque and/or those specified in the most current collective bargaining agreement between the Library Board of Trustees and Teamsters Local 120.

Adopted 1/18/16

Reviewed 11/17/19

Reviewed 4/19/22

Confidentiality is essential to protect the exercise of First and Fourth Amendment rights.  In accordance with First and Fourth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the Iowa Code, and professional ethics, the Board of Trustees of the Dubuque County Library respects the privacy of users and recognizes its responsibility to protect their privacy.

The library will not reveal the identities of individual users nor reveal the information sources or services they consult unless required by law. Confidentiality extends to information concerning a user’s registration record (including whether or not they have a card), information sought or received, and resources requested, consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted, including but not limited to database search records, reference questions and interviews, interlibrary loan records, information about materials downloaded or placed on ‘hold’ or ‘reserve,’ and other personally identifiable information about uses of library materials, programs, facilities, or services.

The Library Director is designated by the Library Board of Trustees as the “lawful custodian” of library records. All requests for patron information shall be referred to the Library Director.

The Library Director may authorize specific third-party uses of the data contained in the library’s user records in order to conduct Library business such as providing routine software maintenance or troubleshooting or sending of account-related notices.

The library cannot guarantee the confidentiality of information sought or received, or materials consulted or borrowed from third-party digital services to which we provide access. When patrons use those resources, they are subject to the individual third-party terms and privacy policies.

The library will not release registration, circulation or other records protected under the Iowa Code unless it is required by law to release the information. Circumstances which may require the library to release the information include the following:

• A criminal or juvenile justice agency is seeking the information pursuant to an investigation of a particular person or organization suspected of committing a known crime and the criminal or juvenile justice agency presents the library director with a court order demonstrating that there has been a judicial determination that a rational connection exists between the requested release of information and a legitimate end and that the need for the information is cogent and compelling.
• The library receives a valid court order requiring the library to release registration, circulation or other records protected under the Iowa Code and the information is not sought in conjunction with a criminal or juvenile justice investigation.

Written and approved: Oct. 2003, 3/09

Reviewed and revised: 4/2018

Reviewed: 8/2021

Reviewed and revised: 4/23/2024

The Dubuque Count Library district presents programs to further our mission and meet the needs of the residents of the library’s service area. This policy exists to guide librarians in selecting and planning programs and to inform the public about the principles guiding programming decisions.
Library programs are planned public activities that are initiated by or presented in partnership with DCLD and take place at a library branch, at locations in the community, or online. Library programs include, but are not limited to: book talks, demonstrations, discussion groups, lectures, performances, storytimes, tours, and workshops.

Program Selection
The selection of program content (including topics, activities, presenters, and highlighted materials) will be made on the basis of public interest and relevance to DCLD’s mission and strategic plan. Content will not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation. Inclusion in a program does not constitute endorsement of program content.

Audience
All library programs are open to the public. Responsibility for the exposure of children to library programs rests with their parents or legal guardians. DCLD may limit attendance of a program to a specific age group. Pre-registration may be required. Program attendees may be photographed, filmed, or video recorded and their likenesses used by the library in editorial or promotional materials.

Community Partnership
DCLD sometimes partners with City or County departments, governmental agencies, community organizations, and businesses to present programs. Co-sponsored programs must include participation by library staff to plan program content, provide logistical support, or include information about library collections relevant to the program. Co-sponsorship and collaboration decisions are made on the basis of mutual needs and equitable benefits between the library and potential partners, as well as available library resources. Such programs materials must not endorse or oppose the election of any candidate for public office; endorse or oppose the adoption of federal, state, or local legislation; or promote commercial products or services.

Programming Costs
DCLD attempts to present programs at no additional cost to participants but may occasionally charge a participation fee to offset the cost of materials used in a program. This fee will be waived at the patron’s request.

Sale of Materials
Materials may be offered for sale at a program by the program presenter or their representative. Eligibility to attend a program shall not be dependent upon purchase. The library shall neither participate in nor profit from this sale.

Statements of Concern
Should a patron of DCLD take issue with a program, they are encouraged to contact the library director to arrange to discuss these concerns. Should that discussion prove unfeasible or fail to address the patron’s concerns, they may complete and submit a “Statement of Concern about Library Resources” form (available at all branches). For further details, please see the Statements of Concern policy.

Related policies: Bulletin Board & Display, Collection Development, Statements of Concern
Adopted 3/21/23

The role of the Dubuque County Library District (DCLD) is to provide opportunities that will allow individuals to freely examine subjects and make their own decisions. While patrons are free to reject for themselves what they do not approve of, they cannot exercise this right of censorship to restrict the freedom of access to others.

The DCLD board and director are aware that patrons may take issue with the inclusion of specific items, programs, or practices, and they welcome the expression of concern by patrons. Patron concerns will be dealt with promptly and courteously as detailed in the following process. The DCLD board and director will only consider those concerns brought by residents of rural Dubuque County or of a city that is a member of DCLD.

Concerned patrons are encouraged to contact the library director to arrange to discuss these issues. Should that discussion prove unfeasible or fail to address the patron’s concerns, they may complete and submit a “Statement of Concern about Library Resources” form (available at all branches).

• After receipt of a “Statement of Concern about Library Resources” form, a committee will be formed consisting of a least two board members, the director, and one library professional whose job description includes responsibilities relevant to the patron’s concern.
• The committee will thoroughly review the item, program, or policy in question, consider the patron statement, and send a recommended response to the DCLD board.
• The DCLD board will approve or reject the committee’s recommendation at the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
• Please note this board meeting will be conducted in open session and the “Statement of Concern about Library Resources” form will be made public.
• The decision of the DCLD board is final.
• The director will respond to the patron in writing to explain the board’s decision.

Related Policies: Bulletin Board & Display, Collection Development, Programs

Adopted 12/20/2022

Revised 7/18/2023

The Dubuque County Library District welcomes individuals of all ages and abilities. The library strives to be a place of belonging for all and the safety and welfare of vulnerable patrons at the library is of utmost importance. A vulnerable patron is a library user of any age whose behavior requires them to be accompanied by a guardian or caregiver or who is unable or unwilling to care for themselves.

Vulnerable patrons should be supervised by age appropriate, responsible parties at all times. Guardians and caregivers are responsible for monitoring the activities and regulating the behavior of persons in their care while they are in the library. Library staff may make exceptions to these requirements for patrons attending library programs.

The Library Board and staff respect the rights and privacy of all library patrons. Staff will intervene only when vulnerable patrons are left unattended and if disruptive behaviors or issues relating to safety and well-being occur.

Library staff will follow established procedures for the protection of the involved party or parties and to maintain an environment free from disruption in accordance with the Conduct in the Library Policy.

Library staff is not responsible for vulnerable patrons interacting with or leaving the library with persons who are not appropriate caregivers or for any consequences related to parents or caregivers forfeiting their responsibilities.

Library staff may refer to social services or law enforcement those vulnerable patrons who are left unattended in the library when a parent/guardian cannot be reached or if the behavior of the minor child or vulnerable adult falls outside acceptable behavior in the library.

Related Policies: Conduct in the Library

Adopted 6/20/23

The Dubuque County Library District appreciates the services of volunteers to supplement the efforts of paid library staff in meeting demands for quality public service. Volunteers aid the library in making the best use of its fiscal resources and contribute to sound working relationships with community groups and organizations. Volunteers are liaisons to the community and by their contributions are advocates for quality library service. The library and its volunteers work together to meet the goals and mission of the organization.

DCLD shall make use of the services of interested volunteers to supplement and not to replace the work done by library staff.

All volunteers are under the supervision of the volunteer coordinator. Volunteer workflow, training and performance evaluation may be conducted by other DCLD staff as delegated by the Volunteer Coordinator.

The assignment of duties shall be based on the abilities and availability of each volunteer. Volunteers shall be assigned duties without regard to any individual’s age, race, creed, color, national origin, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, physical appearance, socioeconomic level, education level or any other legally protected characteristic. Reasonable special accommodations may be made upon request.

Volunteer positions are unpaid and “at-will.” DCLD reserves the right to dismiss a volunteer at any time. DCLD cannot guarantee the availability of volunteer duties.

Volunteers are expected to abide by the library’s policies, including the Conduct in the Library, Privacy & Confidentiality, and Library Access for Sex Offenders Convicted of Sex Offenses Against Minors policies.

Revised 8/15/2023

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

1. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.
2. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

1. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
2. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.
3. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

Adopted June 19, 1939, by the ALA Council; amended October 14, 1944; June 18, 1948; February 2, 1961; June 27, 1967; January 23, 1980; inclusion of “age” reaffirmed January 23, 1996.

A history of the Library Bill of Rights is found in the latest edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual.

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices. See the documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights.

Although the Articles of the Library Bill of Rights are unambiguous statements of basic principles that should govern the service of all libraries, questions do arise concerning application of these principles to specific library practices.

Following are those documents designated by the Intellectual Freedom Committee as Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights and background statements detailing the philosophy and history of each. For convenience and easy reference, the documents are presented in alphabetical order. These documents are policies of the American Library Association, having been adopted by the ALA Council.

Access for Children and Young Adults to Nonprint Materials: Library collections of nonprint materials raise a number of intellectual freedom issues, especially regarding minors. Article V of the Library Bill of Rights states, “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.”

Access to Digital Information, Services, and Networks: Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government. Freedom of expression encompasses the freedom of speech and the corollary right to receive information. Libraries and librarians protect and promote these rights by selecting, producing, providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology.

Access to Library Resources and Services for Minors (previously named Free Access to Libraries for Minors): Library policies and procedures that effectively deny minors equal and equitable access to all library resources available to other users violate the Library Bill of Rights. The American Library Association opposes all attempts to restrict access to library services, materials, and facilities based on the age of library users.

Access to Library Resources and Services Regardless of Sex, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, or Sexual Orientation: The American Library Association stringently and unequivocally maintains that libraries and librarians have an obligation to resist efforts that systematically exclude materials dealing with any subject matter, including sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Access to Resources and Services in the School Library Media Program: The school library media program plays a unique role in promoting intellectual freedom. It serves as a point of voluntary access to information and ideas and as a learning laboratory for students as they acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in a pluralistic society. Although the educational level and program of the school necessarily shapes the resources and services of a school library media program, the principles of the Library Bill of Rights apply equally to all libraries, including school library media programs.

Challenged Resources: The American Library Association declares as a matter of firm principle that it is the responsibility of every library to have a clearly defined materials selection policy in written form that reflects the Library Bill of Rights, and that is approved by the appropriate governing authority.

Diversity in Collection Development: Intellectual freedom, the essence of equitable library services, provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause, or movement may be explored. Toleration is meaningless without tolerance for what some may consider detestable. Librarians cannot justly permit their own preferences to limit their degree of tolerance in collection development, because freedom is indivisible.

Economic Barriers to Information Access: A democracy presupposes an informed citizenry. The First Amendment mandates the right of all persons to free expression, and the corollary right to receive the constitutionally protected expression of others. The publicly supported library provides free, equal, and equitable access to information for all people of the community the library serves. While the roles, goals and objectives of publicly supported libraries may differ, they share this common mission.

Evaluating Library Collections: The continuous review of library materials is necessary as a means of maintaining an active library collection of current interest to users. In the process, materials may be added and physically deteriorated or obsolete materials may be replaced or removed in accordance with the collection maintenance policy of a given library and the needs of the community it serves. Continued evaluation is closely related to the goals and responsibilities of all libraries and is a valuable tool of collection development. This procedure is not to be used as a convenient means to remove materials presumed to be controversial or disapproved of by segments of the community.

Exhibit Spaces and Bulletin Boards: Libraries often provide exhibit spaces and bulletin boards. The uses made of these spaces should conform to the Library Bill of Rights: Article I states, “Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.” Article II states, “Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Article VI maintains that exhibit space should be made available “on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.”

Expurgation of Library Materials: Expurgation of Library Materials: Expurgating library materials is a violation of the Library Bill of Rights. Expurgation as defined by this interpretation includes any deletion, excision, alteration, editing, or obliteration of any part(s) of books or other library resources by the library, its agent, or its parent institution (if any).

Importance of Education to Intellectual Freedom: Through education programming and instruction in information skills, libraries empower individuals to explore ideas, access, and evaluate information, draw meaning from information presented in a variety of formats, develop valid conclusions, and express new ideas. Such education facilitates intellectual access to information and offers a path to intellectual freedom.

Internet Filtering: In the span of a single generation the Internet has revolutionized the basic functions and operations of libraries and schools and expanded exponentially both the opportunities and challenges these institutions face in serving their users. During this time many schools and libraries in the United States have installed content filters on their Internet access. They have done so for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the requirement to comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in order to be eligible to receive federal funding or discounts through the Library Services and Technology Act, Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and the Universal Service discount program (E-rate), or to comply with state filtering requirements that may also be tied to state funding. Their rationale for filtering is that it is better to have filtered access than no access.

Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries: A strong intellectual freedom perspective is critical to the development of academic library collections and services that dispassionately meet the education and research needs of a college or university community. The purpose of this statement is to outline how and where intellectual freedom principles fit into an academic library setting, thereby raising consciousness of the intellectual freedom context within which academic librarians work.

Labeling Systems: The American Library Association affirms the rights of individuals to form their own opinions about resources they choose to read, view, listen to, or otherwise access.  Libraries do not advocate the ideas found in their collections or in resources accessible through the library. The presence of books and other resources in a library does not indicate endorsement of their contents by the library. Likewise, providing access to digital information does not indicate endorsement or approval of that information by the library. Labeling systems present distinct challenges to these intellectual freedom principles.

Minors and Internet Activity: The digital environment offers opportunities both for accessing information created by others and for creating and sharing new information. The rights of minors to retrieve, interact with, and create information posted on the Internet in schools and libraries are extensions of their First Amendment rights.

Library-Initiated Programs as a Resource: Library-initiated programs support the mission of the library by providing users with additional opportunities for information, education, and recreation.

Meeting Rooms: Many libraries provide meeting rooms for individuals and groups as part of a program of service. Article VI of the Library Bill of Rights states that such facilities should be made available to the public served by the given library “on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.”

Prisoners Right to Read: The American Library Association asserts a compelling public interest in the preservation of intellectual freedom for individuals of any age held in jails, prisons, detention facilities, juvenile facilities, immigration facilities, prison work camps and segregated units within any facility.

Privacy: Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free thought, and free association. See also Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confidentiality.

Rating Systems: Libraries, no matter their size, contain an enormous wealth of viewpoints and are responsible for making those viewpoints available to all. However, libraries do not advocate or endorse the content found in their collections or in resources made accessible through the library. Rating systems appearing in library public access catalogs or resource discovery tools present distinct challenges to these intellectual freedom principles.

Restricted Access to Library Materials: Libraries are a traditional forum for the open exchange of information. Attempts to restrict access to library materials violate the basic tenets of the Library Bill of Rights.

Services to People with Disabilities (New as of the 2009 Midwinter Meeting in Denver, CO): ALA recognizes that persons with disabilities are a large and often neglected part of society.  In addition to many personal challenges, some persons with disabilities face economic inequity, illiteracy, cultural isolation, and discrimination in education, employment, and the broad range of societal activities.  The library plays a catalytic role in their lives by facilitating their full participation in society.

The Universal Right to Free Expression: Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government. Freedom of expression encompasses the freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, and association, and the corollary right to receive information.

User-Generated Content in Library Discovery Systems: Libraries offer a variety of discovery systems to provide access to the resources in their collections.  Such systems can include online public access catalogs (OPAC), library discovery products, institutional repositories, and archival systems. With the widespread use of library technology that incorporates social media components, intelligent objects, and knowledge-sharing tools comes the ability of libraries to provide greater opportunities for patron engagement in those discovery systems through user-generated content.  These features may include the ability of users to contribute commentary such as reviews, simple point-and-click rating systems (e.g. one star to five stars), or to engage in extensive discussions or other social interactions. This kind of content could transform authoritative files, alter information architecture, and change the flow of information within the library discovery system.

[PDF of Library Bill of Rights with complete interpretations]

The freedom to read is essential to our democracy. It is continuously under attack. Private groups and public authorities in various parts of the country are working to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries. These actions apparently rise from a view that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety or national security, as well as to avoid the subversion of politics and the corruption of morals. We, as individuals devoted to reading and as librarians and publishers responsible for disseminating ideas, wish to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read.

Most attempts at suppression rest on a denial of the fundamental premise of democracy: that the ordinary individual, by exercising critical judgment, will select the good and reject the bad. We trust Americans to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. We do not believe they are prepared to sacrifice their heritage of a free press in order to be “protected” against what others think may be bad for them. We believe they still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression.

These efforts at suppression are related to a larger pattern of pressures being brought against education, the press, art and images, films, broadcast media, and the Internet. The problem is not only one of actual censorship. The shadow of fear cast by these pressures leads, we suspect, to an even larger voluntary curtailment of expression by those who seek to avoid controversy or unwelcome scrutiny by government officials.

Such pressure toward conformity is perhaps natural to a time of accelerated change. And yet suppression is never more dangerous than in such a time of social tension. Freedom has given the United States the elasticity to endure strain. Freedom keeps open the path of novel and creative solutions, and enables change to come by choice. Every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of our society and leaves it the less able to deal with controversy and difference.

Now as always in our history, reading is among our greatest freedoms. The freedom to read and write is almost the only means for making generally available ideas or manners of expression that can initially command only a small audience. The written word is the natural medium for the new idea and the untried voice from which come the original contributions to social growth. It is essential to the extended discussion that serious thought requires, and to the accumulation of knowledge and ideas into organized collections.

We believe that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture. We believe that these pressures toward conformity present the danger of limiting the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend. We believe that every American community must jealously guard the freedom to publish and to circulate, in order to preserve its own freedom to read. We believe that publishers and librarians have a profound responsibility to give validity to that freedom to read by making it possible for the readers to choose freely from a variety of offerings.

The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution. Those with faith in free people will stand firm on these constitutional guarantees of essential rights and will exercise the responsibilities that accompany these rights.

We therefore affirm these propositions:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous by the majority.

Creative thought is by definition new, and what is new is different. The bearer of every new thought is a rebel until that idea is refined and tested. Totalitarian systems attempt to maintain themselves in power by the ruthless suppression of any concept that challenges the established orthodoxy. The power of a democratic system to adapt to change is vastly strengthened by the freedom of its citizens to choose widely from among conflicting opinions offered freely to them. To stifle every nonconformist idea at birth would mark the end of the democratic process. Furthermore, only through the constant activity of weighing and selecting can the democratic mind attain the strength demanded by times like these. We need to know not only what we believe but why we believe it.

1. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.

Publishers and librarians serve the educational process by helping to make available knowledge and ideas required for the growth of the mind and the increase of learning. They do not foster education by imposing as mentors the patterns of their own thought. The people should have the freedom to read and consider a broader range of ideas than those that may be held by any single librarian or publisher or government or church. It is wrong that what one can read should be confined to what another thinks proper.

1. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of the personal history or political affiliations of the author.

No art or literature can flourish if it is to be measured by the political views or private lives of its creators. No society of free people can flourish that draws up lists of writers to whom it will not listen, whatever they may have to say.

1. There is no place in our society for efforts to coerce the taste of others, to confine adults to the reading matter deemed suitable for adolescents, or to inhibit the efforts of writers to achieve artistic expression.

To some, much of modern expression is shocking. But is not much of life itself shocking? We cut off literature at the source if we prevent writers from dealing with the stuff of life. Parents and teachers have a responsibility to prepare the young to meet the diversity of experiences in life to which they will be exposed, as they have a responsibility to help them learn to think critically for themselves. These are affirmative responsibilities, not to be discharged simply by preventing them from reading works for which they are not yet prepared. In these matters values differ, and values cannot be legislated; nor can machinery be devised that will suit the demands of one group without limiting the freedom of others.

1. It is not in the public interest to force a reader to accept the prejudgment of a label characterizing any expression or its author as subversive or dangerous.

The ideal of labeling presupposes the existence of individuals or groups with wisdom to determine by authority what is good or bad for others. It presupposes that individuals must be directed in making up their minds about the ideas they examine. But Americans do not need others to do their thinking for them.

1. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the people’s freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large; and by the government whenever it seeks to reduce or deny public access to public information.

It is inevitable in the give and take of the democratic process that the political, the moral, or the aesthetic concepts of an individual or group will occasionally collide with those of another individual or group. In a free society individuals are free to determine for themselves what they wish to read, and each group is free to determine what it will recommend to its freely associated members. But no group has the right to take the law into its own hands, and to impose its own concept of politics or morality upon other members of a democratic society. Freedom is no freedom if it is accorded only to the accepted and the inoffensive. Further, democratic societies are more safe, free, and creative when the free flow of public information is not restricted by governmental prerogative or self-censorship.

1. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a “bad” book is a good one, the answer to a “bad” idea is a good one.

The freedom to read is of little consequence when the reader cannot obtain matter fit for that reader’s purpose. What is needed is not only the absence of restraint, but the positive provision of opportunity for the people to read the best that has been thought and said. Books are the major channel by which the intellectual inheritance is handed down, and the principal means of its testing and growth. The defense of the freedom to read requires of all publishers and librarians the utmost of their faculties, and deserves of all Americans the fullest of their support.

We state these propositions neither lightly nor as easy generalizations. We here stake out a lofty claim for the value of the written word. We do so because we believe that it is possessed of enormous variety and usefulness, worthy of cherishing and keeping free. We realize that the application of these propositions may mean the dissemination of ideas and manners of expression that are repugnant to many persons. We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant. We believe rather that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society. Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

This statement was originally issued in May of 1953 by the Westchester Conference of the American Library Association and the American Book Publishers Council, which in 1970 consolidated with the American Educational Publishers Institute to become the Association of American Publishers.

Adopted June 25, 1953, by the ALA Council and the AAP Freedom to Read Committee; amended January 28, 1972; January 16, 1991; July 12, 2000; June 30, 2004.

A Joint Statement by:

American Library Association
Association of American Publishers

Subsequently endorsed by:

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
The Association of American University Presses, Inc.
The Children’s Book Council
Freedom to Read Foundation
National Association of College Stores
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Council of Teachers of English
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression