To kick off Banned Books Week 2009, our new Banned Books Week PSA featuring the puppets from “Crash Pad” is out!
Watch as Chad, Rustle, and Mooch misinterpret the meaning of Banned Books Week and Herb comes to the rescue. Also check it out at AL Focus.
OIF has four new videos up featuring programs from the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Check them out!
“My, those novels certainly are… graphic!”
One of the most popular intellectual freedom programs in years, this panel discussion was sponsored by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, Association of American Publishers, and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Speakers: Neil Gaiman, Terry Moore, and Craig Thompson. Moderated by Charles Brownstein of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
An engrossing conversation about the status of privacy under the new administration. Cosponsored by the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the ALA Washington Office. Speakers: Mary Ellen Callahan, Chief Privacy Officer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; David Sobel, Senior Counsel at the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Craig Wacker, program officer for the MacArthur Foundation’s Digital Media & Learning initiative.
“Libraries, Librarians, and America’s War on Sex”
Sex ed advocate Marty Klein discusses the importance of having sexual information available to all library users. Sponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Round Table.
“Intellectual Freedom on the Front Lines”
Librarians and library supporters from West Bend, Wisconsin share their perspective on the protracted censorship challenges going on in their community at this issues briefing session, sponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Committee and the Freedom to Read Foundation. (See a blog post on the session from American Libraries’ Inside Scoop here.)
The American Library Association, the McCormick Freedom Museum, and the Newberry Library invite you to join us along with ALA President Camila Alire and frequently challenged author Chris Crutcher, in a FREE event to celebrate your freedom to read! The Banned Books Week Read-Out! will take place Saturday, September 26, from noon to 2:00 PM in historic Bughouse Square, located at 901 N Clark St., in Chicago, IL.
The event features authors from the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008, who will talk about their experiences as targets of censors and will also read from their works. Authors scheduled to appear are Sarah Brannen, author of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding; Cecily von Ziegesar, author of the Gossip Girl series; Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower; Lauren Myracle, author of ttyl, ttfn, and l8r g8r (internet girl series); and Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, co-authors of And Tango Makes Three. The CityLit Theatre Company and the Chicago Public Library’s Teen Volume Reader’s Theatre Troupe will perform dramatic readings of some of these works.
Immediately following the program, we will host a book signing and an open mic (2:00 pm to 3:00 pm). The authors and their publishers have graciously donated 100 copies of their works to give away to attendees. Musician Matt Ryd will kick-off the open mic portion of the event with censored music. If you would like to participate in the open mic portion of the event, please contact Jen Hammond at jhammond@ala.org for more information.
For more information about Banned Books Week, please visit www.ala.org/bbooks. We hope to see you at the Read-Out!
(Cross-posted from PrivacyRevolution.org)
Universal online access to search the full text of all the world’s books — it’s a vision that speaks to the heart of libraries’ mission to connect people with ideas. The Google Books Library Project has a noble goal — “to work with publishers and libraries to create a comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of all books in all languages that helps users discover new books and publishers discover new readers.”
What could go wrong?
Plenty, as it turns out.
Google was sued by a group of publishers and authors to address copyright and other intellectual property issues, and the resulting proposed legal agreement — the Google Books Settlement — outlines the terms under which Google will be able to provide access to the 7 million books it has already scanned, and the millions more it will make available in the future. For more information on the settlement, including wonderful summaries that help simplify this very complex document, see the GBS page created by ALA’s Washington Office.
One of the most significant issues with the Google Books project is reader privacy, which is not addressed in the settlement. In a library, readers can browse anonymously and the privacy of library records is protected by state confidentiality laws, library policies, and the shared ethical framework of librarians. How will Google protect reader privacy?
In response to concerns from the library community, privacy activists, and others, Google has released a privacy policy specific to its Google Books service, which addresses many of the issues that have been raised. It’s a great start, but does it go far enough in ensuring that readers’ First Amendment rights aren’t chilled by the potential for monitoring and surveillance?
The Google Books Settlement impacts the rights of publishers, booksellers, libraries, authors, Google itself, and — most significantly, yet perhaps least considered — the rights of consumers and readers of digital books. Libraries and privacy advocates will continue to follow this situation and to fight for the privacy rights of all readers.
