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Dr Byrn Harris, legal counsel for the Free Speech Union, said: “The Free Speech Union deals with a lot of curious decisions regarding free speech – however even we are bemused by the decision to treat the author of Noddy as dangerous and subversive samizdat.”
“Public libraries obviously cannot stock everything, but by law they must provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ service.”
“Deliberately holding back certain works and making them less accessible might fall short of that standard, especially if the reasons for doing so are of dubious relevance – for instance, because the librarian finds those works subjectively offensive.”
“If public libraries insist on having a censorship policy then users, especially children and their parents or guardians, must be clearly informed that the library’s holdings may not be comprehensive as a result of the policy.”
Craig Simpson, The Telegraph, 18th March 2023.
