If you’re coming to Annual Conference, you don’t want to miss these programs! So get them on your calendar now!

On Sunday, June 24, Theresa Chmara, Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Counsel, Jenner & Block, Washington, D.C., will update librarians on the status of litigation and non-litigation projects recently undertaken or monitored by the FTRF. She also will provide practical information on how these court cases affect the daily operations of libraries. Cosponsored by the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) and FTRF, the program—”Status of Recent Litigation Affecting Libraries”—is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., in the Renaissance Mayflower, Chinese Room.

On Monday morning, June 25, Sibel Edmonds, President, National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, will discuss being fired by the FBI in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches that may have prevented the 9/11 attacks. She will explain firsthand how government secrecy can be abusive and why defending whistleblowing is a free speech issue. Cosponsored by the IFC and the Committee on Legislation, the program—”Paul Reveres or Benedict Arnolds?: Whistleblowing in the Post 9/11 Age”—is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Washington Convention Center, Room 144A-C.

On Monday afternoon, June 25, the Hon. Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and author of “Not a Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency,” and Geoffrey Stone, Harry Kalven, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago, and author of “Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism,” will discuss whether anything justifies giving up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety. In other words, they will examine whether our Constitution should be “bent” in times of war or other crises. A question-and-answer session follows their discussion. Cosponsored by the IFC, Association of American Publishers Freedom to Read Committee, and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, this program—Essential Liberty or National Security: Is It Really Necessary to Give Up the One for the Other?—is from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., Washington Convention Center, Room 206.

Additional program information can be found at Select Intellectual Freedom Programs at the ALA Annual Conference.