In Cuba, inquiring minds have challenged state censorship by establishing dozens of independent neighborhood libraries at their own expense, offering uncensored literature to fellow citizens. Volunteer librarians in Cuba are being assaulted, persecuted and imprisoned, some sentenced to more than twenty years.

Out of devotion to the Revolution and its literacy campaign now half a century past, ALA violates its own principles by denying and covering up Cuba’s violations of the freedom to read, refusing direct appeals to join the worldwide human rights consensus that demands release of the library prisoners. Although the Association has reported book burning in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Canada, Vietnam and the Republic of Georgia on its “Book Burning in the 21st Century” website, it refuses to post any information about Cuba’s ongoing police raids, beatings and the Cuban court documents of 2003 (available at the “Rule of Law and Cuba” web site) that contain orders to incinerate or destroy entire library collections, including biographies of Martin Luther King, Jr and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more details on this betrayal of intellectual freedom, readers can see the “Friends of Cuban Libraries” website on the Internet.