Young-adult author Nancy Garden and Bennett Haselton, cofounder of Peacefire, have been named as the recipients of the 2000 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award given by the faculty of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign.
In 1993, Garden’s novel Annie on My Mind was taken off school library shelves in Olathe, Kansas, because it deals with lesbianism. Parents and students filed a civil lawsuit and the book was ultimately returned. Garden talks about her experiences during the controversy and intellectual-freedom issues at workshops, libraries, and conferences.
Haselton dedicated his Web site to “Open Access for the Net Generation” to represent the interests of people under 18 in the debate over freedom of speech on the Internet. Since its creation in August 1996, Peacefire has focused on the limitations of Internet-filtering software.
Both will be honored January 13 at a reception during ALA’s 2001 Midwinter Meeting in Washington, D.C. The library school and Greenwood Publishing Group will cohost the event.
Posted November 13, 2000.