The Overseas Libraries Controversy and the Freedom to Read: U.S. Librarians and Publishers Confront Joseph McCarthy

In the early Cold War years, censorship pressures on libraries led in 1948 to the adoption of a strengthened Library Bill of Rights by the American Library Association (ALA). In 1953 pressures intensified when Senator Joseph McCarthy opened an investigation of the United States Department of State's Overseas Libraries. This essay explores the response of the ALA and the American Book Publishers Council to McCarthy's attacks. Through adoption of The Freedom to Read and the Overseas Libraries Statement, librarians and publishers identified librarians as defenders of intellectual freedom. In addition, they helped to restore balance to book selection for U.S. information services abroad and affected the role of books and libraries in cultural diplomacy.