ALA & First Amendment

Since the First Amendment
is the foundation for the ALA's position and policies regarding intellectual freedom,

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/basics/Default2272.htm

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/statementspolicies.htm

with "intellectual freedom" also addressed in the second provision of the ALA "Code of Ethics"--

"We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources"--

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/statementspols/codeofethics/codeethics.htm

it seems that the ALA code is directed at a distinctly "American" (meaning U.S.) audience. Representing both a profession and individual members, the ALA code provides a model for the library-information profession, but that model does seem to specifically apply to the cultural and social context that had been shaped by a national perspective-- a perspective that may be grounded in the larger Western European tradition, but which is certainly not universal.

After all, the ALA is the "American Library Association"-- not the "International" or the "United Nations" library association.