Lester Eugene Asheim (January 22, 1914 – July 1, 1997) was an American librarian and scholar of library science and film history.

[2] When the United States entered World War II, Asheim joined the Army Signal Corps for three years.

His most famous article entitled "Not Censorship, But Selection"[5] has become as ingrained to library science as the five laws of Ranganathan.

[6] Asheim's article articulated the difference between censorship and selection in several parts that address each of the problems that were associated with collection continuation.

He presents and advocates several rules that librarians should follow in deciding what materials to include and exclude in their libraries' collections.

Asheim's article is still cited by library science community decades later when dealing with the problems of cyber materials.