Month: March 2021
Political Affiliation is Not an Employer’s Business — Especially in Education
Faculty should not push their opinions on students – or make students feel denigrated for their opinions – but they should encourage students to question and strongly analyze their opinions. That’s part of the point of college.
Stop Bullying Trans People!
A U.S. Court of Appeals upholds an elementary school’s decision not to publish a 4th grade student’s essay encouraging people to stop bullying transgender people.
Build America’s Libraries
The Build America’s Libraries Act seeks to provide more equitable access for all and calls for funding to be prioritized to “underserved and distressed communities, low-income and rural areas, and people with disabilities and vulnerable library users including children and seniors”.
Intellectual Freedom News 3/26/2021
Read an interview with President of the Freedom to Read Foundation, Barbara Stripling, that examines the organization, it’s Midwinter Report to ALA Council and upcoming priorities.
Deeper Dive with President Barb Stripling: Freedom to Read Foundation Report to Council
An interview with President of the Freedom to Read Foundation, Barbara Stripling, that examines the organization, it’s Midwinter Report to ALA Council and upcoming priorities.
Book Review: Dark Archives: A Librarian’s Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
Overall Rosenbloom’s book engaged me intellectually in a way I was not expecting, and still addressed the issue (who the heck makes books made out of human skin?) that got me to pick up the book in the first place. It turned out to be a really interesting lens through which to consider medical ethics, ethics regarding human remains, and collection development ethics all rolled into one unique issue
Intellectual Freedom News 3/22/2021
“When I was a baby librarian, I thought that I was ready for challenges, and I wasn’t,” he said. “But I got ready, and that experience has proved invaluable in dealing with this whole situation, and I’m so grateful to the work of my former colleagues—current colleagues? I’m still a librarian at heart—who are putting the needs of their patrons first.” Kyle Lukoff in “LGBTQ+ Book Challenges Continue As Texas Parents Object to “Call Me Max” in School Library Journal.
Intellectual Freedom News 3/12/2021
“It is also incumbent upon us as library and information workers to combat cultural bias and bigotry by promoting diversity in our collections, programming, policies, and hiring practices, ensuring that our diverse communities see themselves represented on our library shelves, in our offerings, and among our ranks.
The Executive Board calls on ALA members, library institutions, and library users to join them in publicly condemning anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander racism.” ALA Executive Board Supports APALA in Recognizing and Condemning Ongoing anti-Asian Hate Crimes
ALA’s Broadband Resolution and the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit Program
In response to the exclusion of library broadband funding from the Consolidated Appropriations Act (COVID-19 relief package passed in december), ALA has passed a “Resolution in Support of Broadband as a Human Right.” Now Congress has passed the American Rescue Plan Act which includes the Emergency Education Connectivity Fund. #LibrariesStrong
History Repeated: the Trials of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five has been subject to banning, challenges and even burning for decades. The American Library Association lists the title in it’s Banned and Challenged Classics page, citing a book burning in North Dakota in 1973 and a variety of bans and challenges due to language, sexual references and even because it “contains and makes references to religious matters.” ALA notes only two instances of retention after the book was challenged.