By Rachel Altobelli, Albuquerque Public Schools, and Sara Cook, Jefferson Middle School, New Mexico AASL’s new resource guide, “Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries“, is: a source for quick answers to difficult questions; a place to find advice… Read More ›
Last year a book was pulled from middle and high schools, after a parent of a 6th grader complained about the “vulgar” language within the book. The book, which is authentically relevant to the current climate of our country, a… Read More ›
Annually the American Library Association (ALA) observes Choose Privacy Week from May 1-7. With increasing threats to personal and library user privacy, highlighting privacy once a year is insufficient. Recently the ALA rebranded its “Choose Privacy Week” website to “Choose… Read More ›
For librarians, Intellectual freedom is a living concept, a core value reflected in the ALA Code of Ethics, the Library Bill of Rights, the Freedom to Read Statement, and Libraries: An American Value. It is highlighted annually during Banned Books… Read More ›
Concern about children’s and teens’ reading has been with us for hundreds of years. Mobilizing concerns about youth reading in order to spur activists and citizens to action has a long and complex history in the United States. Much lip… Read More ›
There’s new proposed national legislation for librarians to monitor and support. On March 15, 2018, the Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. The proposed legislation will amend the U.S. Copyright Act 17, U.S.C…. Read More ›
When it comes to intellectual freedom, most people would agree that adults should have the right to read what pleases them. Many would also agree that teenagers need some freedom to explore their own reading tastes and choices. But what… Read More ›
The Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) has started the process for revising the 9th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual published in 2015. Rationale for a New Edition Why is a revision needed? Several… Read More ›
During the past two weeks, we have all listened to the Parkland students as they voiced their anger, pain, and frustration. On the other side, we listened to those who said that these were just kids and the #NeverAgain movement would… Read More ›
The American Library Association held its Midwinter meeting in Denver from February 9-13, 2018. As the chair of the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee (and a retired school librarian), I’m providing information on three important items for school librarians. Net Neutrality… Read More ›