Intellectual Freedom

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Information governance and security

CHICAGO — Written by Alan MacLennan, “Information Governance and Assurance: Reducing Risk, Promoting Policy,” published by Facet Publishing and available through the ALA Store, is a comprehensive textbook that discusses the legal, organizational and ethical aspects of information governance and information security and their relevance to all aspects of information work.

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75th anniversary of the Library Bill of Rights

CHICAGO — Seventy-five years ago at the 1939 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco, the ALA Council adopted the Library’s Bill of Rights, echoing the spirit of a document from the Des Moines Public Library in 1938. This document, refreshed in 1944, 1948, 1961, 1967, 1980 and 1996, remains the library profession’s major policy document on intellectual freedom. 

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Over-filtering in schools and libraries harms education, new ALA report finds

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Schools and libraries nationwide are routinely filtering internet content far more than what the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires, according to “Fencing Out Knowledge: Impacts of the Children’s Internet Protection Act 10 Years Later (pdf),” a report released today by the American Library Association (ALA). CIPA requires public libraries and K-12 schools to employ internet filtering software to receive certain federal funding.

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Banned Books Week 2014 celebrates graphic novels

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA), with the national Banned Books Week planning committee, today announced that this year's celebration of the freedom to read will emphasize a thematic focus on comics and graphic novels.   This year's Banned Books Week, Sept. 21 – 27, will shine a light on this still misunderstood form of storytelling and will celebrate the value of graphic novels to readers from all walks of life through the work performed by Banned Books Week sponsors and individual librarians, retailers and readers from all over the world.  

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John 'Mack' Freeman awarded 2014 Gordon M. Conable Conference Scholarship

CHICAGO — The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) has selected John "Mack" Freeman, a public librarian in Georgia, as the seventh recipient of the Gordon M. Conable Conference Scholarship. The Conable Scholarship will provide for Freeman's expenses to attend the 2014 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Las Vegas.

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NJLA Intellectual Freedom Committee receives the 2014 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations award

CHICAGO — The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) announces that The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) is the recipient of the 2014 Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award .

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Registration now open for Choose Privacy Week 2014 webinar,'Defense Against the Digital Dark Arts'

CHICAGO — Dark forces conspire online to undermine privacy, compromise accounts, stalk, troll and just plain creep us out. Libraries have a longstanding tradition of protecting their users’ privacy and confidentiality, but often fail to take basic steps to protect patrons’ use of their public access computers and digital resources. 

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Privacy All Year Round: Choose Privacy Week, May 1 – 7, 2014

CHICAGO – Each year on May 1, librarians, library users and privacy advocates come together to observe Choose Privacy Week - an annual event promoting the importance of individual privacy rights.  But protecting and promoting privacy in libraries and in patrons’ lives shouldn't be a one-off annual event.  Libraries and librarians should provide privacy programming and resources throughout the year, whether the topic is government surveillance, data mining, identity theft, or threats to personal privacy from implementation of emerging technologies. 

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FTRF Krug Fund Banned Books Week grant applications open through April 30 (Now May 5)

CHICAGO — Applications are now open for the 2014 Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund Banned Books Week event grants, sponsored by the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF). Organizations are encouraged to apply for grants of $1,000 and/or $2,500 in support of "Read-Outs” or other activities that celebrate Banned Books Week (Sept. 21–27, 2014).

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ALA joins SXSW technology policy discussions

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) will join the technology policy conversations in play at the South by Southwest EDU and Interactive conferences in Austin starting this week. Privacy and the “internet of things” will be among the topics on the agenda for the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). ALA also will join members and sister library organizations at the joint “Innovative Booth for Libraries” March 7-11, 2014.

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