Librarians as GUARANTEER of continued free access to
   information. The gates don't stay open by themselves. There is a
   philosophy *behind* free access, one that has dominated the 'net
   but it's not necessarily a guarantee. Example: China. Something
   most of us never learn about Librarians: There is a creed. "The
   creed of a librarian: No politics, no religion, no morals" A
   very short book written years ago for librarians puts it
   plainly. That's the title. You don't need to read the book (13
   pages long) to understand its point. It is one of the guiding
   principles behind the REASON *why* the Internet today is free;
   why we have public forums where we can discuss things. No
   politics. No religion. No Morals. That allows the gates to stay
   open for freedom of information to continue, uninhibited; this
   very philosophy of the librarian. Librarians don't need to
   categorize or organize knowledge or control the flow; that's
   just a byproduct of having to make it easier when all we had
   were books and such. But the Internet does away with the Dewey
   Decimal System and Library of Congress subject headings; The
   internet is a better way. One day, perhaps libraries will
   disappear. Computers will successfully categorize and organize
   knowledge automatically, removing the need for human
   classification systems (beyond those set by the programmers).
   But somebody needs to have the right outlook to be sure it
   continues, lest a politician, or someone with a particular
   worldview decides that they have "a better way" for society. We
   don't normally think of a Librarian's attitude towards knowledge
   as Activism but they are Activists. A single politician trying
   to control future education who becomes popular is all it would
   take for access to free speech/thought/discussion/knowledge to
   end. Librarians have fought to keep controversial books on the
   shelves in children's libraries, only to have them removed by
   political forces of democracy / popularity.