Freedom to Read Foundation announces nominating committee for 2013 election

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) has announced the nominating committee for its April 2013 election.  Committee members are: Judith Platt, Washington, D.C.  (chair);  Jonathan Bloom, New York;  and Julius C. Jefferson, Jr., Washington, D.C.

Six positions on the FTRF board of trustees will be filled in the election to be held April 1 – May 1, 2013.  The persons elected in the 2013 election will serve a two-year term on the board, beginning at the close of the 2013 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference and continuing through the end of the 2015 ALA Annual Conference.  Trustees are required to attend two one-day meetings per year, which are held in conjunction with the ALA Annual Conference and Midwinter Meeting.

Nominations should be sent by Dec. 14, 2012 to: Freedom to Read Foundation, Attn: Judith Platt, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611.  In addition, nominations may be emailed to ftrf@ala.org.  FTRF members also may be slated for candidacy by petition by submitting 25 signatures of current FTRF members in support of the candidate.  The executive director of the Foundation must receive names of petition candidates and the required signatures to support each no later than Jan. 31, 2013.  Only FTRF members are eligible to seek election to the board.

The Freedom to Read Foundation, a sister organization of the American Library Association, was founded in 1969 to promote and defend the right of individuals to freely express ideas and to access information in libraries and elsewhere.  FTRF fulfills its mission through the disbursement of grants to individuals and groups, primarily for the purpose of aiding them in litigation, and through direct participation in litigation dealing with freedom of speech and of the press.