原則としての「知る自由」の未確立期における図書館と社会的立場 －1950 年代の図書館界の趨勢と有山崧の思想－

Abstract

In history studies, the relationships between libraries and social and/or political issues have not been thoroughly investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine librarians' thoughts regarding the roles of libraries in a social context just before approval of "The Statement on Intellectual Freedom in Libraries" (1954). We focus on the arguments of the neutrality of libraries (1952-1953) on Toshokan Zashi and "Appeal to Library Associations for the Prohibition of Atomic Weapon, " which was approved at the All-Japan Librarians Conference in 1954. Ariyama Takashi (executive director of the Japan Library Association) warned librarians not to declare an ideological position directly and recommended that they concentrate on the role of the public library as an information center, which was to provide various materials. As the basis of the statement that would affect Japanese librarianship, his concept did not gain a dominant position in the early 1950s. Librarians recognized the nature of the public library in various ways. The arguments related to the neutrality of libraries and the appeal clarified the conflict between the role of libraries to provide all points of view and the adoption of specific positions related to social and/or political issues.