I Support the Freedom to Read and Iowa Libraries!

Kristin Pekoll Advocacy, Censorship, LGBTQIA+, State Intellectual Freedom Committees

By: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

Intellectual freedom support is alive and well in Iowa. The outreach of support for the Orange City Public Library is inspiring. Keep reading for the joint letter from the American Library Association and Iowa Library Association.

Iowa Library Association

 

Iowa Library Association President Michael Wright sent an email to membership updating them on a challenge to LGBT materials at an Iowa public library and sharing the joint letter of support from ILA and ALA to the board.

I’m sure many of you have seen press coverage about the petition to the Orange City Public Library regarding LGBT materials in their collection.  I wanted to let the membership know that ILA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom have been working on this since we got wind of the situation last week.  I have attached a letter sent jointly by ALA and ILA to the Orange City Public Library Board.

I would like to express my deep thanks to all who have helped on this one, most especially Kristin Pekoll at ALA’s OIF, Sam Helmick, ILA’s Intellectual Freedom Chair, Dan Chibnall, our de-facto media spokesperson, and Amanda Vazquez, director of the Orange City Public Library, and likely a few folks not coming to mind at the moment.

If you haven’t heard about this, here are some links: the local, regional, and national. Press attention has been heavy.

We’ll try to keep you informed of any further developments.
Mike

 

Joint letter from the American Library Association and Iowa Library Association:

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