Category: education
Banned Book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is America’s ‘Best-Loved’ Novel
Part of the reason that the novel is so well loved, I think, is because it challenged so many of us to think about difficult issues. Whether we continue to teach Mockingbird or choose to move on to another, more modern book, one important lesson from Mockingbird will live on – we will continue to read, and love, our banned books.
(When) Should curriculum changes be called censorship?
There are no easy answers in these scenarios, and often, the label of censorship thrown about in the media serves more to politicize and enflame than to move toward solutions and greater intellectual freedom for all. Instead of relying on the label of censorship to discourage curricular changes guided by politics, power, or lack of transparency, we need to rely on rigorous analysis of the curriculum choices themselves and the institutions that create and implement them. And that is a much harder task than writing a provocative headline.
Dispatches from the Houghton Library, Part Two: Who’s In and Who’s Out?
Are admissions policies at the world’s most exclusive colleges fair? How do they even determine what “fair” is? And does this presence or absence of fairness affect our intellectual freedom?
How to Make My Classroom More Like a Library
By: Kate Lechtenberg I was recently working on a proposal for a new course, and my book list kept getting longer and longer. The solution was clear: choice. If there […]
Intellectual Freedom Inventory: Back to School Edition
It’s almost that time again, the most wonderful time of the year! Back to school!
The Best Educating Requires Academic Freedom
Weakening the protections of academic freedom will make it harder for all educators to do their jobs effectively and creatively. I think for most of us, if we think back we will realize the teachers we remember most, and that we learned the most from, are the ones who challenged the way we think and pushed us beyond our comfort zones. Educators at all levels need to continue to have the freedom to do this.
Is literacy a right? My internal conflict
A federal district court ruling earlier this month which held that there is no clearly established constitutional right to literacy in the United States has reminded me that the various pieces of my background are sometimes in conflict with one another.
How Libraries Can Help Migrant Children: A Book List
We, as librarians and information specialists, can use our skills and our platform as a center of the community to educate our patrons about the immigrant experience and what it means for children and families to leave behind everything familiar for an unknown country.
Ideas for the College Library: Banned Books Week 2018
Some of my more memorable interactions with the campus, especially students and faculty, have revolved around the themes BBW brings to the surface and highlights in real life situations for discourse.
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Library Freedom Project Introduces Inaugural Cohort
This summer, the Library Freedom Project introduces the latest endeavor in its mission to promote online privacy. The Library Freedom Institute will equip 13 librarians from around the country to serve as privacy advocates in their communities.