Month: October 2019
Happy Birthday, Rudolfo Anaya
Anaya’s pioneering authorship introduced readers to engaging aspects of contemporary Chicano culture, a world that I can’t imagine not ever becoming familiar with.
What Librarians Can Do to Get Out the Vote: An Interview with Ari Berman, Author, Give Us the Ballot
Half the states in the country have changed their voting laws to make it more difficult to vote, a very large number in a concentrated period.
Intellectual Freedom News 10/25/19
Deborah Caldwell-Stone appointed director, ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation; Supporters, opponents of Loudoun County Public Schools’ diverse libraries come out in force; Chicago teachers strike spotlights school librarians.
Happy Birthday, Ellen Wittlinger!
Despite the frustrations from that book challenge, Wittlinger hasn’t shied away from writing about these tough, but important, topics that relate to teenagers. Her novels written since Sandpiper was challenged tackle everything from LGBTQIA issues, suicide, religion and spirituality, and the universal search for love and belonging.
Intellectual Freedom News 10/18/19
“Dear Martin” author responds to book removal from Col. Co. curriculum; Libraries Promoting Reflective Dialogue in a Time of Political Polarization; ALA’s eBooksForAll petition exceeds 100,000 signatures
Safety in Libraries: a Continuum
I’d like to offer an approach I’ll call the continuum of safety, offered from the perspective of the patron, the person who uses the library but is not a member of the staff. My goal is to establish a framework for the supervision of public space, in keeping with the values of the profession.
Privacy Matters: A Critique of Open Libraries
The advent of self-service libraries is a radical approach to serving patrons with varying schedules, but negative consequences lurk behind expanded access. These unstaffed spaces rely on surveillance technology in order to keep the peace and protect their inventory.
Intellectual Freedom News 10/11/19
A professor spoke out about whiteness at Georgia Southern University. Students burned her book; Positive impact of Banned Books Week: A reflection from youth services; Diverse classroom libraries spark debate in Loudoun County
Diversity Versus Indoctrination in Children’s Publishing
Attempts at censorship in children’s publishing are nothing new. However, the rising popularity of organizations like We Need Diverse Books, which strives to represent all types of people in book publishing, strikes conservatives such as Joy Pullman, executive editor of The Federalist, as indoctrination. As the American Library Association prepares to celebrate Banned Books Week this month, learn more about why children need diverse books more than ever.
Libraries and Journalism: Dispelling Disinformation and Advancing Democracy With Diligent Fact-Finding
Librarians and journalists tackle the same challenges and it’s no surprise that the two fields have found natural allies in one another. Both institutions champion the notion of equity in access and intellectual freedoms within their respective mandates. And collaboration is key when one falls short of their charge to serve the community.