[tadfisher]

Do we treat books as the protected speech of libraries? No. In fact we already ban books from library shelves regularly. Freedom of speech does not compel libraries to host The Anarchist's Cookbook, and does not prevent governments from limiting what libraries can host, under existing law.

[iamnothere]

False. I have no clue where you got this idea, but libraries are perfectly within their right to have it on their shelves, just as publishers are allowed to publish it (present copyright conflicts aside). Repeated legal attacks against the book, at least in the US, were unsuccessful.

You may be conflating “libraries” with “school libraries,” where some states have won the right to limit the contents of shelves. Public libraries have certainly faced pressure about certain books, but legally they are free to stock whatever they want. In practice they often have to deal with repeated theft or vandalism of controversial books, so sometimes they pull them.

[tadfisher]

> You may be conflating “libraries” with “school libraries,”

For the purpose of this discussion, there is zero difference, unless you can articulate one that matters. Feel free to mentally prefix any mention of "library" with "school" if you like.

[iamnothere]

School libraries are state institutions under the control of various Boards of Education. As state institutions their rules and policies can be set by statute or Board policy. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. English teachers likewise must focus on teaching English at work, but this is not a restriction on their freedom of speech.

(That said, I am opposed to political restrictions on school library books. It is still not a free speech issue.)