Over the coming 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 Freedom to Read Foundation.

• On Thursday, the Freedom to Read Foundation 2010-2011 board of trustees held its second and final day-long meeting.  Among the topics discussed were the ongoing strategic planning process, the slate of litigation FTRF is participating in or monitoring, and strategies for increasing FTRF’s membership.   See the FTRF Report to ALA Council here.  (And become a member of FTRF here!)
• Following the 2010-2011 board meeting, the 2011-2012 FTRF Board held its organizing meeting, welcoming the newly elected trustees and approving the FY2012 budget. The new board’s officers will be President Kent Oliver (continuing in this role), Vice President Judith Platt, and Treasurer Herbert Krug.  Candy Morgan and Jonathan Bloom will join those officers on the FTRF Executive Committee.
• That evening, FTRF held its annual membership reception.  FTRF Executive Director introduced Audrey Barbakoff, winner of the 2011 Gordon Conable Conference Scholarship
• At the following day’s Opening General Session, prior to a moving keynote by Dan Savage, FTRF trustee Chris Finan was presented with the Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award.
• On Monday, the Supreme Court announced a major victory for free speech when it ruled California’s ban on the sale to minors of violent video games to be unconstitutional.  Kent Oliver was pleased to be able to announce this news to the ALA Council.
• Check out photos from FTRF’s conference on Flickr.
• Watch a couple of videos from the ALA Exhibit Floor, one featuring longtime FTRF supporter, jeweler Carolyn Forsman; and the other with Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of FTRF ally Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.