This week, the OIF Blog will be featuring wrap-ups of last month’s ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, each post featuring a different intellectual freedom group. Today’s featured group: the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.

• A Merritt Fund volunteer, Anjali Bhatin, ran a booth at the Diversity Fair to spread the word about the Fund. She reported a great deal of interest in the Fund by attendees, most of whom had never heard of the Merritt Fund and had no idea about its mission (to provide monetary support to librarians in need due to their defense of intellectual freedom or due to discrimination).
• At its meeting, the Merritt Fund board discussed ways to increase visibility of the Fund, including the Merritt Fund Facebook page; articles in library-related magazines; and a presence at library conferences and ALA committee meetings. IFRT‘s Merritt Fund Promotion Committee will be helpful in many of those efforts.
• On Sunday, June 26, the Merritt Fund’s annual Reception for a Cause was joined together with the New Members Round Table Awards Reception in a great affair at a local gallery.  Photos can be found below and at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ala_members/sets/72157627148254694/