Tag: Library Bill of Rights
New from ALSC: Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit
The ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee has just released their Intellectual Freedom Programming Toolkit. Intellectual freedom is not just for Banned Books Week, and this toolkit offers ways to provide bitesize servings of important IF concepts at any time of year. Rather than replacing existing programs with IF-centered activities, we can embed those ideas in popular programming that’s already being done.
Listen Up! Read-aloud Challenges
Some public challenges in 2019 focused on books that were read aloud to minors. The issues were LGBTQIA and race. But some challenges raise new questions.
Classroom Libraries Are For Reading, Not Censorship
As the popularity of classroom libraries grows, so do book challenges and censorship. Classroom teachers must partner with school librarians in order to protect students’ right to read and diverse classroom libraries.
‘Books saved my life and my sanity’: An Interview with Banned Author Carmen-Francesca Banciu
Carmen-Francesca Banciu is an author, journalist and lecturer who grew up in Romania as the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Communist party. She studied in Bucharest, going on to win the International Short Story Prize in Arnsberg, Germany in 1985, leading to a ban on her works in Romania.
Bill of Rights Day and Intellectual Freedom
Today, December 15, 2018, we celebrate the 227th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Bill of Rights Day on this day in 1941 to honor and observe the preservation of our individual rights.
Hey! Those Don’t Belong to You: Why You Shouldn’t Burn Library Books
It also demonstrates cowardice and intolerance. If you disagree with someone’s viewpoint, you should have the courage and respect to share and discuss the reasons behind your beliefs. And more importantly, you should have the courage and respect to listen to ideas other than your own.
Making the Intellectual Freedom News: How Do Our News Editors Make Selections?
Each week, we work to compile the news and organize it so it can be easily skimmed by those of you who subscribe to the blog. Recently, we’ve been comparing notes about what we’ve learned as we gather the Intellectual Freedom News during our first year working for OIF and we thought you, as the readers, might be interested in learning more about the process and our reflections. Here’s a sample of our recent conversations…
Libraries and Summer Food Programs: An Intellectual Freedom Argument
During the summer, libraries play an important role of stopping summer slide and engaging people, especially children and teens, with learning opportunities and collections built for self-directed exploration. However, if a child is hungry, how inclined will they be to take advantage of these opportunities?
Access to Information: A Universal Human Right
Article 19 of the [Universal Declaration of Human Rights] states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Access and Truth: Should Librarians Provide Context?
We are often asked why we have libraries in the age of Google. We just have been given the perfect opportunity to prove our worth. Will we open the discussion and grab it?