Founded in 1969, the Freedom to Read Foundation: } Promotes and protects the freedom of speech and of the press; } Protects the public's right of access to information and materials stored in the nation's libraries; } Safeguards libraries' right to disseminate all materials contained in their collections; and } Supports libraries and librarians in their defense of First Amendment rights by supplying them with legal counsel or the means to secure it. The Foundation is devoted to the principle that the solution to offensive speech is more speech, and the suppression of speech on the grounds that it gives offense to some infringes on the rights of all to a free, open and robust marketplace of ideas.