Page 55 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

054 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 7, 2015

theory, by contrast, claims that library rights are mainly to ensure the user to use the library
freely and equally, and it is the duty of the library to ensure the users to use the library freely and
equally. I agree with the latter theory. This theory has pointed out what the library rights are, but
it has not analyzed “why it is”, and not given a reasonable basis and logic argument to the right
system. Freedom and equality have been the two core social values established since the Age of
Enlightenment. There is no much contradiction from the perspective of theory of natural rights.
But with the development of the capitalist society and increasing inequality appear in reality, the
conflict between freedom and equality is increasingly fierce. Free development will make the
economic development unbalanced and the social disparities enlarged, while advocating equality
may lead to the damage of the individual freedom to some extent. With the development of
society, consideration of freedom and equality is a good way to measure the justice of social
system, and it is becoming the core content of the whole system. How to balance these two
conflicting concepts in the system of the library rights? Where do the freedom and the equality
right of the library come from? What is the relationship between them? What do the freedom and
equality right reflect in the system of the library rights? What is the cornerstone of their unity?
All these questions should be answered.

1 The root causes of conflict between freedom and equality and their
interrelationship

The library right is a right that ensures the users to use the library equally and freely. However,
freedom and equality are not completely harmonious concepts, and the tenses between them
exist all the way throughout the history of the development of human rights. To know the root of
contradiction and relationships between them can help us be clear about these vital concepts in the
system of the library right. What is more, it can also help us know why we design this system and
be able to coordinate the relationship between the two in the system construction, then make the
library system fully reflect the justice of its own. Only in this way, can we ensure the users to use
the library freely and equally.
Modern western enlightenment established the political discourse of freedom and equal rights
(L. Wang, 2009). The most typical among all the enlightenment is liberalism. And liberalism
demonstrated that men are created equal (Gu, 2005). However, the freedom in that time just meant
an equal chance to compete, which meant that the government hardly interfered it. For example,
from John Rock to the 19th classical liberalism, everyone advocated that man’s natural rights are
inviolable, and considered using the constitutions to restrict the state power and protect the rights
of the individual. Along with the development of capitalist society, this laissez-faire policy results
in the gap between the rich and the poor and increasing social contradictions. How to solve the
inequality caused by free development is a system problem which the state should face up to. So
by the middle of the twentieth century, the new liberalism, Rawls as the representative, not only