Are you familiar with the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF)? On November 20, 2015, FTRF will celebrate its 46th birthday. Although holding many of the same ideals as the American Library Association, FTRF was founded in 1969 as a discrete… Read More ›
One of the principles of intellectual freedom is to provide access to information and learning resources to all students and this includes students with print disabilities. Having a print disability means “A person … cannot effectively access traditional print materials… Read More ›
Posted on behalf of Doug Johnson for Banned Websites Awareness Day High school student Rachel is increasingly concerned over racial issues in her community and plans to write her senior thesis on this topic. There is an active “Black Lives Matter” movement… Read More ›
As I was reading Candace Aiani’s article “International School Librarians Count: Current Issues in Intellectual Freedom and Access to Information,” in the Intellectual Freedom issue of Knowledge Quest, I thought back to my own experience defending intellectual freedom in the… Read More ›
If you’re conflicted too, this Q&A resource is for you. I support intellectual freedom and the freedom to read in my library, of course. But how can we begin to have the important conversations about intellectual freedom, censorship, and the… Read More ›
In looking over an assignment to develop a library reconsideration policy that I gave to my graduate students, it occurred to me that an important information element is missing. Every reconsideration policy that I surveyed had the usual slots for… Read More ›
How will your library celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week (BBW) September 27-October 3, 2015? Sponsored by 13 organizations, Banned Books Week has been observed annually since 1982. That’s 33 years of fighting censorship! According to American… Read More ›
In 2000 Congress passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) with the purpose of protecting children and young adults online. Unfortunately, the law’s requirements have been misinterpreted by many school districts resulting in filters overblocking legitimate educational websites and interactive… Read More ›
I have 4 editions of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Manual (blue, purple, gold, and white) on my professional book shelves, and without question, the most recent is most useful to school librarians. Although I used previous editions, the new 9th edition published… Read More ›
The American Library Association defines intellectual freedom as “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all… Read More ›