reviews.indd


Book Reviews 387 

Budd demonstrates a formidable 
knowledge of philosophy and critical 
theory, and Self-Examination draws heav-
ily on the thought of John Stuart Mill, 
Michel Foucault, and Jürgen Habermas, 
among many others. Occasionally, how-
ever, Budd’s own worthwhile messages 
are obscured by the very theory and phi-
losophy he invokes to support it. Pep-
pered throughout the book are phrases 
that suggest Budd is aware of this minor 
foible: “This isn’t a trivial question,” “This 
may seem a bit esoteric,” and “This isn’t 
a purely academic exercise” are a few 
examples. Much more rarely, one negoti-
ates a thicket of theory only to find, at its 
center, what approaches a platitude of the 
profession. In a brief sub-chapter titled 
“Categorizing Information,” for example, 
Budd visits the views of several “theorists 
of categorization in librarianship,” includ-
ing Elaine Svenonius and Paul Otlet, as 
well as theorists John Searle and George 
Lakoff, to conclude that “Classification 
and description are tools of our profession 
that are genuinely effective, but not abso-
lutely effective. They should, then, be used 
by professionals for the purposes they 
suit, subject to the judgment of profession-
als.” One would be hard-pressed to fi nd a 
librarian (or even library school student) 
who would hazard a disagreement. 

“Self-examination is fundamental to 
professional progress and growth.” In 
Self-Examination, Budd demands 21st-cen-
tury librarians to look at themselves in the 
proverbial mirror and to question a pro-
fession where there are often “no ques-
tions, no counterpoints.” Budd implores 
us to enliven our field with self-critical 
minds and productive debate, because 
“our professional future is… bound to 
the reconciliation of discontents.” We 
must “overcome a conservatism… that 
preserves past action and thought as in-
herently good and useful” (my emphasis). 
Ours is a future at once bristling with 
challenges and unknowns but also starred 
with potential, innovation, and new op-
portunities.—David Pavelich, University 
of Chicago. 

Byrne, Alex. The Politics of Promoting 
Freedom of Information and Expression 
in International Librarianship: The IFLA/ 
FAIFE Project. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow 
(Libraries and Librarianship: An Inter-
national Perspective, no. 4), 2007, 226p. 
alk. paper, $55 (ISBN 0810860171). LC 
2007-22006. 

The idea of freedom of information and 
expression has been the subject of consid-
erable debate in the professional practice 
of librarianship in the United States and 
among Western democracies throughout 
much of the 20th century. Nevertheless, to 
take these issues to a global stage during 
an age of substantial political and social 
upheaval and change is to introduce 
deeper levels of intricacy, as Alex Byrne 
reports in his new book. Byrne, presently 
the university librarian at the University 
of Technology in Sydney, served as chair 
of the Free Access to Information and 
Freedom of Expression (IFLA/FAIFE) 
initiative and as president of the Interna-
tional Federation of Library Associations 
from 2005 to 2007. Using research initially 
reported in his dissertation submitted 
to the University of Sydney in 2003, 
Byrne’s new work endeavors to “trace 
the development of the FAIFE initiative 
over its first five years, from the Council 
resolution which established the new 
committee in August 1997 to the council’s 
endorsement of the Glasgow Declaration 
on Libraries, Information Services and Intel-
lectual Freedom in August 2002.” 

In Chapter 1, Byrne begins his presen-
tation by outlining its purpose, which as-
sociates concern for human rights with an 
adoption of the principles of intellectual 
freedom in the inner workings of IFLA as 
an international organization represent-
ing the strategic direction of both librar-
ies as institutions and the professional 
values of librarianship. Chapters 2 and 3 
examine the development respectively of 
libraries and of IFLA as a “haven for peace 
in a stormy world.” Especially useful are 
Byrne’s fresh insights into the agency 
of libraries, and in particular national 
libraries, in transmitting and preserving 



388 College & Research Libraries July 2008 

culture and in forging the identity of 
librarianship as an “institution-based” 
profession actively engaged in access 
and preservation of culture bound by 
geography or statecraft. Libraries, “and 
especially national libraries and similar 
institutions, can give tangible expression 
to ‘constitutional patriotism,’” or preser-
vation of and access to what constitutes 
the formation of national identity. Such 
commitment to safeguarding collective 
memory and determining right of entry 
for a community or nation provides 
considerable social capital, which is 
considered in subsequent chapters on 
the fate of libraries under conditions of 
national crisis. 

Chapter 4 offers a recent history of 
human rights as an issue in IFLA, trac-
ing indications of interest expressed in 
organizational viewpoints between the 
late 1960s and mid-1990s, to 1997 when 
the organization was positioned to create 
a committee to render formal examination 
of free access to information and freedom 
of expression across political boundaries. 
According to Byrne, “By placing their 
votes for the resolution at the IFLA coun-
cil meeting, the members who supported 
it signaled a desire for the federation to 
include action on the fundamental human 
right of intellectual freedom among its 
goals as a purposive association.” It is also 
evident that this issue placed IFLA as an 
organization at an important crossroads, 
that, by actively engaging free access and 
free expression as an issue, the associa-
tion would move beyond its “traditional 
agency” to ponder fundamental global 
concerns of freedom and human rights 
in the aftermath of the Cold War when 
the world rapidly realigned itself around 
critical political and moral events. 

Chapter 5 follows the progress of IFLA/ 
FAIFE, its chronological development in 
relation to global issues. Especially chal-
lenging to the committee was its endeavor 
to strike a balance post September 11 
between terrorism and free access to in-
formation, resulting in such publications 
as a Statement on Terrorism, the Internet and 

Free Access to Information (2001), the IFLA 
Internet Manifesto (2002), and the Glasgow 
Declaration on Libraries, Information Ser-
vices and Intellectual Freedom (2002). IFLA/ 
FAIFE, in effect, began to assume a key 
role in much of the association’s response 
to significant issues. As Byrne found, “It 
was especially influential in its work on 
unrestricted access to information via the 
Internet…. But it also contributed to the 
identification of obstacles to information 
in other circumstances, including those 
experienced by indigenous peoples and 
by the disabled.” 

Although it can be said that IFLA/FAIFE 
fulfilled its charge broadly, chapters 6 and 
7 delve deeper into the potential conflict 
between broad statements and taking 
action as a manifestation of institutional 
commitment and professional practice. 
In chapter 6, Byrne summarizes many 
critical incidents handled by FAIFE, in-
cluding book burnings in Ekaterinburg, 
Russia, a case in the United Kingdom 
involving photographs from a book by 
Robert Mapplethorpe, threats to libraries 
of Kosovo and East Timor as nations in 
crisis, the contested nature of attendance 
at IFLA’s 2000 conference in Jerusalem, 
the imprisonment of Dickinson College 
librarian Song Yongyi by the Chinese 
government, and librarians “as a target of 
social disintegration” in Robert Mugabe’s 
Zimbabwe. Byrne also devotes a section of 
this chapter to Internet-related issues, par-
ticularly in the wake of the USA PATRIOT 
Act, for which the IFLA/FAIFE issued a 
statement in 2003. As Byrne found in his 
review of the documents of these and other 
cases, “FAIFE’s experience over its first 
half decade of existence has countered the 
suggestion that library-related abrogation 
of intellectual freedom may be uncom-
mon. A quite extensive list of incidents 
and issues has been generated through 
the work of IFLA/FAIFE. Their number 
and geographic distribution appear to be 
limited only by the capacity of the program 
to monitor, investigate, and respond.” 

In chapter 7, Byrne extends his discus-
sion of individual cases by considering 



Book Reviews 389 

their meaning in relation to the concept 
of the right to information. According 
to the author, “IFLA/FAIFE’s focus on 
the supremacy of the right to informa-
tion places its mission at the libertarian 
end of the spectrum, where the rights of 
individuals should prevail unless they 
need to be imposed ‘to prevent harm 
to others’.” The limitations imposed on 
libraries, librarians, and individuals in-
clude censorship, privacy, and protection 
of others from “defamatory speech,” as 
well as restricted access to information in 
the national interest. While the arguments 
presented here are succinct, if anything 
there is a shortcoming to Byrne’s discus-
sion as he gives litt le reflection on the role 
that culture—and, in particular, local cul-
ture—has on questions of free access and 
free expression. Byrne only really touches 
upon this dimension of resistance to free 
access and free expression in a discus-
sion of censorship and sexually explicit 
materials, where he observes similarity 
in underlying tensions regardless of tactic 
or technique used by those seeking to 
squelch free access and free expression. 
“The reasons for control are many, ex-
tending from protection of the vulnerable 
to defense of a regime,” Byrne concludes. 
“The countervailing arguments in favor 
of diversity, pluralism, and the contention 
of ideas are based in a shared belief in 
the primacy of the fundamental rights to 
know and to enjoy intellectual freedom.” 
Here one might wish for an expanded 

Index to advertisers 
ACRL Publications 331 
American Economic Assoc. cover 4 
AMS Press 393 
Annual Reviews 300 
Assoc. of Research Libraries cover 3 
Bowker 394 
CHOICE 341 
EBSCO 296 
H.W. Wilson 295 
ISI Books cover 2 
Perry Dean Architects 318 
Serial Solutions 299 

discussion of the ethos of nation-states 
or conflict between cultures as context for 
understanding limitations to intellectual 
freedom. 

The final chapters provide readers with 
thoughtful reflections and conclusions 
on the meaning of incorporating human 
rights in IFLA. Chapter 8 relates the ex-
perience of IFLA to other international 
organizations in policy formation and 
geopolitical influence. Such organiza-
tions, ultimately, face constraints because 
of the “shared sense of purpose” of a 
profession, “which demands a degree 
of consensus and can be threatened by 
disharmony.” Ultimately, IFLA and FAIFE 
situated human rights within its organi-
zations the way that many international 
organizations, associations, and societies 
have done. Yet one must also raise an is-
sue facing all international associations, 
to what extent are these ideas adopted 
globally, or do they represent a hegemonic 
shift on the part of Western countries to 
impose libertarian thought elsewhere in 
the world? 

To some degree, this question is ad-
dressed in chapter 9, which is devoted to 
a discussion of professional powers and 
geopolitical boundaries. The possibility 
of applying broad concepts hammered 
out in an international committ ee poses 
an important challenge to the transna-
tional definition of the role and function 
of a profession, especially one that is so 
closely associated with institutions as 
librarianship is. This is especially impor-
tant when considering the knitt ing that 
binds members of a profession as found 
in core values and codes of ethics. “If the 
statements and codes are to be more than 
just pious expressions,” Byrne concludes, 
“if they are to be adopted into a consistent 
habitus, then the professional bodies need 
to be able to demonstrate how they can 
be applied in practice.” 

The Politics of Promoting Freedom of 
Information and Expression in International 
Librarianship gives a firsthand view of 
IFLA at its most controversial turn in the 
development of FAIFE, as well as sub-



390 College & Research Libraries 

sequent efforts to both form policy and 
respond to specific violations of free ac-
cess and free expression. Arguably there 
are limitations to research presented by 
those so closely involved as the author. 
Byrne attempts to temper this through 
his use of action research to frame his 
study. This may prove to be a somewhat 
controversial use of the methodology, as 
it is unclear whether or not the author ac-
tually set out to document his work with 
FAIFE and IFLA in such a manner that is 
typically found using an action research 
frame. Nevertheless, his observations 
are useful and policy analysis insight-
ful. He has opened up what hopefully 
will be a stream of research not only on 
IFLA/FAIFE but also on the policy and 
political dimensions of professional 
practice.—William C. Welburn, University 
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Cronenwett, Philip N., Kevin Osborn, 
and Samuel Allen Streit. Celebrating 
Research: Rare and Special Collections 
from the Membership of the Association 
of Research Libraries. Washington, D.C.: 
Association of Research Libraries, 
2007. 312p. $135 ($115 ARL member 
libraries) (ISBN 159407769X). LC 
2008-295721. 

Celebrating Research, a beautifully printed 
and lavishly illustrated coffee table book 
published in honor of the 75th anniver-
sary of the Association of Research Librar-
ies (ARL), is a veritable open-sesame to 
the rare and special collections among 
118 ARL libraries in the United States 
and Canada. While not purporting to be 
a comprehensive directory, it is a capti-
vating sampling of the full spectrum of 
collections from rare and unique items to 
emerging media and digitized materials 
available for researchers as well as the 
general public. 

An essay by Nicolas Barker, editor of 
the Book Collector, provides background 
on the founding and history of the ARL 
and its member institutions (www.arl. 
org/). His descriptions of the various col-
lections include his memories of working 

July 2008 

with librarians, archivists, donors, histo-
rians, and booksellers from conceptualiz-
ing, to selecting, to assembling, to making 
the collections available physically as well 
as digitally, along with his fi rsthand expe-
rience working with many of the actual 
items identified in this volume. 

Following this introductory essay are 
118 profiles of the rare and special col-
lections arranged alphabetically from 
the University of Alabama Libraries’ 
W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library’s 
The David Walker Lupton African American 
Cookbook Collection (www.lib.ua.edu/lup-
ton.htm) to the Yale University Library’s 
Sterling Memorial Library’s Map Collec-
tion (www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/). 
The subject areas of the collections cover 
the gamut of human experience: Ger-
man and Jewish intellectual émigrés 
(SUNY-Albany), North American Indians 
(University of Alberta), history of flight 
(Auburn University), Japanese maps 
(University of British Columbia), poetry 
(SUNY-Buffalo), Chicano studies (Uni-
versity of California, Berkeley), Ameri-
can religions (University of California, 
Santa Barbara), Irish theatre (University 
of Cincinnati), photobooks (University 
of Colorado-Boulder), alternative press 
(University of Connecticut), human 
sexuality (Cornell University), polar ex-
ploration (Dartmouth College), women’s 
history and culture (Duke University), 
African-American history (Emory Uni-
versity), children’s literature (University 
of Florida), sheet music (Johns Hopkins 
University), comic art (Michigan State 
University), public health films (Na-
tional Library of Medicine), history of 
the American South (UNC-Chapel Hill), 
entomology (North Carolina State Uni-
versity), Islamic manuscripts (Princeton 
University), the Holocaust (University of 
Southern California), New Orleans jazz 
(Tulane University), Japanese American 
evacuation and internment (University of 
Washington), and Italian history and cul-
ture (University of Wisconsin-Madison). 

Following the individual profi les of 
rare and special collections at a given 

www.library.yale.edu/MapColl
www.lib.ua.edu/lup