Seeking to Award Personal Courage, Dedication, and Contributions to the Defense of Freedom of Expression with $500
By: guest contributor Cyndi Robinson, IFRT Immroth Award Committee Chair
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) is accepting nominations for the 2021 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award. The award consists of a citation and $500. (press release)
This award, presented annually, honors the personal courage, dedication, and contribution to the defense of freedom of expression by a living individual, group, or organization. Over the past 45 years, the Immroth Award has been presented to a diverse group of recipients. Recent winners include:
- 2020: Rebecca Ginsburg, Director of the Education Justice Project, for defending the freedom to read for incarcerated individuals.
- 2019: Jim Duncan, Executive Director of the Colorado Library Consortium, for defending the principles of intellectual freedom.
- 2018: Lindsey Whittington, a media specialist in Dixie County, Florida, publicly defended the First Amendment rights of her students.
- 2017: Robert P. Doyle, in recognition of his defense of intellectual freedom in a library career spanning more than 30 years.
- 2016: Jarrett Dapier, for exposing wrongdoing which could have resulted in a violation of the constitutional rights of the students in Chicago Public Schools.
The Immroth Committee needs your help identifying and nominating our 2021 recipient! The deadline for nominations is December 31, 2020. Visit the John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award page for more information and to submit nominations.
If you have questions about the award or how to submit a nomination, please contact Immroth Committee Chair, Cyndi Robinson, at robinson@ila.org.
Cyndi Robinson is the Deputy Director of the Illinois Library Association and a past IFRT Chair and Treasurer. She reads widely, but especially loves historical fiction, mysteries, and horror. Her favorite movie is Casablanca and she has spent most of the last 37 years thinking too much about Doctor Who. A native South Sider, she is a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan. She lives in a village that is designated a National Historic Landmark with her husband, two nearly grown-up children, their greyhound Sparky, and a tortoise named Baxter.
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the ALA in defense of intellectual freedom; promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of ALA policies on intellectual freedom.