The public library serves as the community’s information center. The library not only responds to, but also seeks to anticipate, the informational, educational, and cultural interests and needs of the community. The library serves as a guardian of the public’s right to know by resisting censorship and providing equal access to information needed for informed and effective daily living, decision making, problem solving and thoughtful participation in civic and community affairs.
“There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.”