Our Content Development Policy guides the selection and management of resources collected and created by the Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga-o-Ōtautahi. One of the core values expressed in this policy is Intellectual freedom and access to information.
It states:
Items prohibited by the Films, Videos and Publication Classification Act 1993 will not be purchased by the Library and material restricted by provisions of this act will not be issued to customers under the specified age. Apart from these statutory requirements, the Library will have no active censorship role.
The Policy asserts that Christchurch City Libraries supports the right of children and young adults to choose their own material. The responsibility for a child’s selection rests with parents or legal guardians (see membership form).
We do not censor books in this way unless they have been to the censor and have been rated.
To uphold the principle of intellectual freedom, the Library attempts to supply a balanced collection containing varying viewpoints on controversial issues. Material will not be suppressed or removed simply because it gives offence. While recognising the right of the individual to reject material, this should not diminish the overall breadth of the collection for other customers.
See also our page Library policy: Content breadth and depth.
