The civil libertarian aspects of the National Program for Library and Information Science are analyzed. The five assumptions on which the program is based are closely examined for their references to the word "right." Details are given of the historic development of the library profession's increasing concern for the protection of constitutionally sanctioned liberties: the right of full freedom of expression, the right of privacy, and the right to know. The philosophical and practical aspects of the problem of separating federal support for a national network from federal control over the information contained therein are discussed, and reexamination of some of the program's assumptions is suggested. A chronology of events relating to intellectual freedom and privacy in the last 25 years is appended. (Author/PF)