ERIC EJ1073936: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom: Who We Are and How We Help Librarians

2015·1.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association
may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement
granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address
usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions.
FEATURE
left to
right:
Deborah
Caldwell-
Stone, Nanette
Perez, Barbara
Jones, and
Kristin Pekoll.
ALA OFFICE FOR
INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM
26 Knowledge Quest | Intellectual Freedom
All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association
may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement
granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address
usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions.
Who We Are and How
We Help Librarians
Kristin Pekoll
[email protected]
Volume 44, No. 1 | September/October 2015 27
All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association
may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement
granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address
usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions.
“Good Morning, Office for and it will celebrate its fiftieth
anniversary in 2017.
Intellectual Freedom. This is ALA's Office for
Kristin.” Libraries are a forum for Intellectual Freedom
information and ideas (under the
—silence— First Amendment), and librarians (OIF) strives to educate
are responsible for making sure
“Hello?” that every person has equitable librarians and the public
and unrestricted access. At OIF,
about the nature and
our first priority is to make sure
“Oh, I’m sorry; I just expected
that all librarians, educators,
to get a recording.” and users know this. Our second importance of intellectual
priority is to fight any attempts to
freedom in libraries.
limit or remove access.
This response brings a smile
to my face. First, because
Anyone can call us with questions
I love that I’m able to provide
or to report a challenge. A person
a human connection to our National Council of Teachers
does not have to be a member of
callers. Second, because I would of English (NCTE Connected
ALA to inquire about best library
have thought the same thing Community). We monitor not only
practices for 3-D printers or get
before I started to work for this our own social-media pages but
advice on how to communicate
incredible organization. The also ALA Think Tank and other
with a coworker who doesn’t
American Library Association librarian-saturated sites.
understand censorship. We try
(ALA) seemed so much bigger
to ensure someone is in the
and more powerful than “little As an office, we educate. OIF
office during all business hours
ol’ me everyday librarian.” But staff write articles and books,
to answer the phone, and we are
now that I’m working here, I get and speak at conferences. We
available by e-mail. We follow
to see all the people with diverse facilitate annual events like
many electronic discussion lists
backgrounds, intelligence, and Banned Books Week (September)
in case a thread arises regarding
passion working to provide and Choose Privacy Week (May).
intellectual freedom issues about
resources and advocate for OIF gathers resources and
which we can help. Among the
librarians. answers questions about labeling
discussion lists we follow are
books, filtering the Internet,
those of the Young Adult Library
ALA’s Office for Intellectual developing policies, managing
Services Association (yalsa-bk),
Freedom (OIF) strives to educate meeting rooms and display spaces,
American Association of School
librarians and the public about requiring permission slips, and
Librarians forum (aaslforum),
the nature and importance of defining a challenge. Members
School Library Media & Network
intellectual freedom in libraries, of the ALA Intellectual Freedom
Communications (lm-net), and
Committee and OIF staff have
created interpretations of the
Library Bill of Rights that were
approved by ALA Council.
OIF gathers resources and answers questions about
These interpretations help guide
decisions made on the front lines.
labeling books, filtering the Internet, developing
In addition to the interpretations,
policies, managing meeting rooms and display spaces, tool kits, Q&As, and white papers
are all available (for free) to
requiring permission slips, and defining a challenge. help librarians, other educators,
journalists, and other interested
28 Knowledge Quest | Intellectual Freedom
All materials in this journal subject to copyright by the American Library Association
may be used for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement
granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. Address
usage requests to the ALA Office of Rights and Permissions.
parties decipher the different to develop policies that allow to discuss ideas and report
facets of complex issues related to the broadest online information happenings around the country.
intellectual freedom. For example, access allowed by law. (KQ Most state library associations
in 2014 OIF with the Office for editor’s note: An article by researcher have an intellectual freedom
Information Technology Policy Kristen Batch “Filtering beyond CIPA: committee or roundtable. Some
(OITP) published a report on Consequences of and Alternatives to states have two intellectual
Internet accessibility. “Fencing Overfiltering in Schools” begins on page freedom representatives: one
Out Knowledge” addresses the 60 in this issue.) for their state association and
impact of the Children’s Internet a separate voice for school
Protection Act (CIPA) in schools Our office also has made librarians. A significant majority
and public libraries. This report communication with librarians of the challenges that are
is a great tool to help educate in each state a priority. We reported to OIF happen in school
administrators and school boards host quarterly Web meetings libraries and classrooms. School
librarians typically have a policy
structure and order of command—
different from those for public
Anyone can call us with questions to report a challenge. and academic libraries—that
affect how challenges are handled.
It’s incredibly important to hear
school librarians’ viewpoints
at the “State of the States” Web
meetings.
As a professional association
designed to support librarians, we
follow the lead of the people we are
working with. In some situations
publicly aligning with outside
advocates may not be the best
course of action for a librarian in
a tenuous environment. Without
permission, we will never reveal who
contacts our office or why.
Kristin Pekoll is the
assistant director for the
ALA Office for Intellectual
Freedom in Chicago. She
wrote the September 2014
article “Why Gay Characters Matter” for
Huffington Post and the September 2014
article “Book Challenge Procedures” for the
International Literacy Association.
Volume 44, No. 1 | September/October 2015 29