In this study we have investigated what school librarians' attitudes are towards intellectual freedom and (self) censorship. If there is any (self) censorship in school libraries we also want to know how it takes place. Our study is based on qualitative interviews with six school librarians who works with children between the ages of 6-12 years.

Our study shows that school librarians in general support intellectual freedom on a theoretical level. Only one of the informants is of the opinion that intellectual freedom is not appliable in school libraries. When it comes to the practical day to day operations in the library, IFLA’s criteria for intellectual freedom is not lived up to. The most common deviation from it is to discriminate based on age. But there are also some books with inappropriate content they choose to not acquire. One reason for this can be that the informants do not know IFLA’s standards. Another one that the librarians largely follow the values the schools stands for. Their job is after all about supporting education. Two of the informants admits that they may have done self censorship a few times. Our conclusion is that (self) censorship is more isolated occurrences than a systematic act in the profession.