OIF Blog

Registration is now open for the Rocky Mountain Regional Lawyers for Libraries Training Institute in Denver, November 8, 2007. This program, sponsored by the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, will double as a preconference to the Colorado Association of Libraries’ (CAL) Annual Conference.

Note: Separate registration is required for the CAL conference and Lawyers for Libraries. Lawyers for Libraries workshops are open to licensed, practicing attorneys retained to represent or advise libraries on legal issues. Library trustees or board members who are responsible for establishing library policy may also attend. Librarians may attend if they are accompanied by a library attorney.

Denver marks the 13th Lawyers for Libraries institute. Started in 1997, Lawyers for Libraries has trained hundreds of attorneys, librarians, and library trustees on key laws and litigation concerning issues related to the First Amendment in libraries, including:

• Privacy, law enforcement requests for records, and the USA PATRIOT Act;
• Public forum analysis and libraries, including developing meeting room and display case policies;
• Internet filtering and the ongoing repercussions of the Supreme Court’s CIPA decision; and
• How to respond to attempts to censor books and other library materials.

You can view the instructors and curriculum online now.

Continuing Legal Education credit will be available for this full-day program. The $395 registration cost ($745 for two attendees) includes breakfast and lunch.

The CAL conference will be held at the John Q. Hammons Convention Center @ Holiday Inn DIA, located just minutes from the airport. Lodging at the hotel is $84.00 per night for attendees, while available (mention group booking code LIB).

For more information and to register, visit www.ala.org/lawyers.

If you know an attorney in the Rocky Mountain area – or anywhere – who qualifies and who might be interested in this program, please pass the word!

Tags: Special Events by Jonathan Kelley
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Now that the Harry Potter saga has come to a close (don’t worry, there are no spoilers associated with this post!), OIF Director Judith Krug takes a look back at the publishing phenomenon surrounding everyone’s favorite boy wizard and the many, many attempts to restrict access to Harry and his adventures.

Judith’s observations are featured at I Love Libraries, ALA’s new initiative aimed at connecting those in the general public who love libraries with information and resources about how to help keep libraries strong. Her piece is one of many exploring Pottermania 2007.

Tags: Censorship by Jonathan Kelley
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Theresa Chmara, General Counsel for the Freedom to Read Foundation, gave a presentation at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference on the “Status of Recent Litigation Affecting Libraries.” The program was cosponsored by the Freedom to Read Foundation and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee.

You can view the video of the program here. Note: in order to view videos, you may need to install the latest version of the Adobe Flash player.

For more information on some of the cases Chmara discusses, visit FTRF’s page on the Status of Litigation.

We are grateful to the ALA Washington Office for all their work in producing this video!

You can experience all of OIF’s multimedia productions at the OIF Podcasts and Videos page.

Tags: Freedom to Read Foundation by Jonathan Kelley
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During the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee and Committee on Legislation cosponsored a program entitled “Paul Reveres or Benedict Arnolds?: Whistleblowing in the Post 9/11 Age.” The keynote speaker was Sibel Edmonds, President and Founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. Also speaking was Stephen Kohn, President of the National Whistleblower Center.

Edmonds gained worldwide attention in 2002 after she was fired by the FBI for reporting shoddy work and security breaches that may have prevented the 9/11 attacks. Kohn is considered one of the nation’s foremost experts in whistleblower protection law and is the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing, Protecting Environmental and Nuclear Whistleblowers: A Litigation Manual.

We are pleased to be able to feature the video of this program.

Tags: Midwinter Meeting/Annual Conference by Jonathan Kelley
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