Dear Mr. Credi:

Thank you for your letter of September 2, 1992.

We have refused your offer of a gift subscription to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and outlined in previous correspondence why it is not necessary to Library's collection. We know our collection to be well-rounded as to format and point of view in the area in question. We are well aware of our responsibilities to provide up-to-date, varied materials on this subject and know we are doing this.

It is not enough to quote from library sources on the concepts of a balanced collection, intellectual freedom, and service to community. Along with this one needs to be able to evaluate collection content fully, objectively and fairly.

The most consistent reason the Library has anything, whatever the format, indexed or not, is that it meets a need by providing information in an area where otherwise there is not enough. We do not claim to offer everything, indeed we are not able to, and we do, for practical reason, constantly need to determine what is enough. This is the process of selection, not censorship.

Several letters have already been exchanged without positive result. We are very sorry, but we cannot continue to correspond on this subject. We apologize the dialogue we engaged in did not bring this matter to a satisfactory close.

Thank you for your interest in the public library of the City of White Plains.

Sincerely,

Sandra Miranda
Library Director