Censorship Litigation and Public Libraries in the United States : An Overview

1.公共图书馆审查诉讼及相关案件多发生在20世纪80年代以后。然而，从20世纪90年代中期开始，特别是在数字环境下，法院案件的数量有增加的趋势。本研究的主要发现是：对于公共图书馆的基本性质、性质和使命，许多法院意见倾向于将公共图书馆视为有限的公共场所。这大大加强了公共图书馆的地位，并捍卫公共图书馆从许多审查的企图。本研究有助于各种研究不仅在知识自由的公共图书馆，而且为目的，作用和使命的公共图书馆一般。

1. Most of the public library censorship litigations and related cases occurred after 1980's. However, there are some tendencies to increase the number of court cases from mid 1990's, especially under the digital environment.2. Following is a major finding of this study :As to the basic character, nature and mission of the public library there is a tendency that many court opinions hold the public library as a limited public forum. This greatly strengthens the status of the public library and defends the public library from many censorship attempts.This study contributes to various researches not merely for the in the intellectual freedom in public libraries, but also for the purpose, role and mission of the public library in general.