SRRT International Programs and Demonstrations

1983

“Intellectual Freedom in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.” Four speakers gave personal accounts on Kenya, China and Iran. SRRT’s Lee Reagan reacted to the presentations. Co-sponsored by the SRRT International Human Rights Task Force with ACRL Asian and African Section and International Relations Round Table.

1984

“The New World Information Order: A Third World Perspective.” Speakers were Claude Robinson of Inter Press Service and Brennon Jones of Interlink, distributor of Inter Press Service. Presented by SRRT International Human Rights and Alternatives in Print Task Forces.

1986

Libraries and the Fight for Literacy in Nicaragua. Speakers were Myra Miranda de Peña, Director of Public Libraries for the Nicaraguan Ministry of Culture, Johanna Reyes from the Nicaraguan Embassy, Mary Engle from TecNica, Carmela Ruby from the California Literacy Campaign, Jackie Eubanks, Lynn Taylor, Klaudia Rivera, Marty Quinn, and Ken Nash. There was also a performance by Louis Reyes Rivera, a Puerto Rican poet. Presented by the SRRT Library Union and Alternatives in Print Task Forces.

1987

“South Africa and the Abridgement of Human Rights.” Speaker was Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Human Rights Task Force with ALA International Relations Committee.

“Peace as a Third Generation Human Right.” Speaker was Ann Fagan Ginger, Executive Director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute in Berkeley. Presented by SRRT International Human Rights and Peace Information Exchange Task Forces.

“Public Policy Alternative Sources: Access and Use.” Speakers were Ben Bagdikian, Dean of the School of Journalism at University of California-Berkeley; Frances Moore Lappe, co-founder and director of the Institute for Food and Development Policy; Marc Levin, Associate Librarians at Institute of Government Studies at UC-Berkeley; and Terry Link, reference librarian and journalism bibliographer at Michigan State University. Co-sponsored by SRRT Alternatives in Print Task Force and ACRL Law and Political Science Section.

1990

“Arms Control, Disarmament, and Peace Research: Gaining Access to Sources.” Speakers were Richard Dean Burns, professor and bibliographer emeritus at California State University; Jeanne Bohlen, librarian of the United States Institute of Peace; and Mary Lord of ACCESS. Co-sponsored by SRRT Peace Information Exchange Task Force with ACRL Law and Political Science Section and GODORT.

“Human Rights: Access to Intergovernmental Publications.” Speakers were Laurie S. Wiseberg, Director of Human Rights Internet at the Harvard Law School; Maureen Ratynski, Reference Librarian at the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at the United Nations; and Thomas L. Welch, Director of the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Human Rights Task Force with ALA International Relations Committee, GODORT International Documents Task Force, and ACRL Law and Political Science Section.

1991

“Israeli Censorship, Library Closings and the Occupation.” Speakers were Palestinian-American librarian Noha Ismail from Minnesota; Nubar Hovsepian, adjunct professor at Hunter College, Israeli librarian and peace activist; Josepha Pick, law librarian at Tel Aviv University, and Israeli publisher Dror Greenfield. Presented by the SRRT International Human Rights Task Force.

1992

“Tools of the Trade or Poisons for the Planet: The Environmental Impact of Paper, Computers, and Microfilm.” Presented by the SRRT Task Force on the Environment. No further information.

“Intellectual Freedom Violations Arising Out of the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict.” Speakers were Israeli newspaper editor Ms. Michal Schwartz, Director of the Galilee Institute for Social Research Dr. Ghazi Falah, and Khader Hamide who has been fighting deportation. Presented by the SRRT International Human Rights Task Force.

“Economic Conversion” [from military/industrial complex]. Speaker was Michael Closson, Director of the Center for Economic Conversion. Presented by the SRRT Peace Information Exchange Task Force.

1993

“Israeli Censorship There and Here.” Speakers were Jeffrey Blankfort, editor of Middle East Labor Bulletin, and Jay Murphy, editor of the literary magazine Red Bass. Presented by the SRRT Task Force on Israeli Censorship.

“Central America into the Next Millennium: Prospects for Peace.” Speakers were scholars Michael Powelson and Diego Savalag. Presented by the SRRT Peace Information Exchange Task Force.

1994

“Choices for the 21st Century Foreign and Domestic Priorities.” Speaker was Marta Daniels, Executive Director of OPTIONS at Brown University. OPTIONS was a multi-year project to engage the American public on foreign policy issues. Co-sponsored by the SRRT Peace Information Exchange Task Force with Public Library Association.

“Promoting Cooperation and Understanding Among Librarians in the U. S. and in Africa.” The program was moderated by Ismail Abdullahi from the Clark Atlanta University School of Library and Information Studies. Speakers were Lucy Kenyanjui who was the Principal Librarian at Kenya Polytechnic, Kacem Saad from the Morocco National Documentation Center, and Mary Ivy Saa Boye from the Department of Library and Archival Studies at the University of Ghana in Legon. Presented by the SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“The Current Situation in the Occupied Territories and in Palestinian Libraries.” The program was chaired by Stephen Stillwell. Speakers were Professor Cheryl A. Rubenberg at Florida International University and Dr. Majed Khader of the Marshall University Library. Organized by the SRRT Task Force on Israeli Censorship.

1995

“Peacemaking in the Schools.” The program coordinator was Beth Sibley from the Doe Library at UC-Berkeley. Speakers were Mabel McKinney-Browning from the American Bar Association and Ray Parrish from the Midwest Committee for Military Counseling. Presented by the SRRT Peace Information Exchange Task Force.

Enola Gay Poster Session (material censored from the Smithsonian exhibit). Co-sponsored by Action Council with Intellectual Freedom Committee and Intellectual Freedom Round Table.

“Cuba: Cultural Cost of the Blockade.” Speakers were Marta Terry who was Director of the Biblioteca National Jose Marti in Havana, Jose Manual Perez of Ediciones Melcher in Puerta Rico, and Ann Sparanese from the Englewood (NJ) Public Library. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force with Progressive Librarians Guild.

1996

“Literacy, Libraries, and Liberation in the Americas.” No further information.

1998

“Social Responsibility Around the World.” Meeting with representatives from SRRT, PLG, Information for Social Change, KRIBIBI, Akribie, BiS, and LIWO to try to form an international progressive library network. Speakers were Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen from Arbeitskreis Kritischer BibliothekarInen (AKRIBIE--Working Group of Critical Librarians), Johnny Jacobs from Library and Information Workers Organization (LIWO—South Africa), Lennart Wettmark from Bibliotek i Samhälle (BIS-- Libraries in Society--Sweden), Martyn Lowe from Information for Social Change (United Kingdom), and Chris Atton, author of Alternative Literature: A Practical Guide for Librarians (discussant).

“Reading in the Age of Global Media.” Author and social critic Mark Crispin Miller discussed the impact of media conglomerates on the free exchange of ideas between writers and readers. Librarian panelists John Buschman and Sheila Intner responded to Miller’s comments. Co-sponsored by SRRT Alternatives in Print Task Force with ALA Reference & User Services Association (RUSA).

“Global Reach – Local Touch: The Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters Library.” Sponsored by the SRRT Task Force on the Environment with ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach Services (OLOS), held at EPA Headquarters.

“Cultural Connection to African Art Exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum.” Ashley Bryan, Coretta Scott King Award recipient, was the featured Artist/author-In-Residence in the opening festivities. Co-sponsored by the SRRT Coretta Scott King Task Force with the St. Louis Art Museum, September 1998.

1999

Demonstration against Former General Colin Powell as ALA Keynote Speaker. Powell covered up the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam, was National Security Advisor during the Contra War in Nicaragua, was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the invasion of Panama, and he presided over the Persian Gulf War.

“Searching for the ‘Enemy’: Alternative Resources for U. S. Foreign Policy.” Speakers were Chuck D’Adamo of the Alternative Press Center, Erik Leaver from the institute for Policy Studies, and Tom Fenton from WorldViews. Sponsored by the SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force and the SRRT Alternatives in Print Task Force.

2000

“The WTO and Libraries: Perspectives on Globalization.” Speakers were Fiona Hunt, Information Literacy Librarian, Zayed University Library, Abu Dhabi; Rick Weingarten, Director, ALA Office for Technology Policy; and Jonathan Betz-Zall, Children’s Librarian, Sno-Isle Library System, Seattle area. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“Access to African Materials in US Libraries.” Speakers were Ismail Abdullahi, Clark-Atlanta University, School of Library and Information Science; Mary Jay, African Books Collective, Oxford, UK; and Valerie Mwalilino, Library of Congress African/Middle Eastern Acquisitions Section. Co-sponsored by the Black Caucus International Relations Committee and SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2001

“Cuba: Sovereignty, Development and Intellectual Freedom.” Speakers were Rhonda Neugebauer, Latin American Studies bibliographer at University of California in Riverside; and Larry Oberg, librarian at Willamette College in Salem, Oregon. Ann Sparanese, head of adult and young adult services at Englewood (New Jersey) Public Library, chaired the meeting. Marta Terry from Cuba was invited to speak but her visa was denied. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“Earth Days in the 21st Century, Environmental Activism to Save the Planet.” Speakers were Denis Hayes, the founder of the first Earth Day in 1970; Fred Stoss; and TFOE Chair Maria Anna Jankowska. Presented by the SRRT Task Force on the Environment.

2002

“Foreign Policy Issues: Librarians Help Inform the Public.” No further information.

2003

“War, Trade, and Activism: A Case for International Responsibility in Librarianship.” No further information.

“Welcome to Cuban Delegation and Boogie Down with SRRT.” A meet and greet with the 5 Cuban librarians who could easily go to the conference because of the lack of visa restrictions in Toronto, Canada.

2004

“Librarians Confront the War in Iraq.” Speakers were Cynthia Banas, a retired librarian and member of Voices in the Wilderness; Chris Gaunt, library assistant from Grinnell College; and Michael Malinconico, professor in the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama. Presented by the SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2005

“Destabilization, Disinformation, and Librarians: From Chile, to Cuba, to Venezuela.” Venezuelan-American attorney Eva Gollinger provided a history of recent U.S. destabilization efforts in Venezuela. Al Kagan narrated a PowerPoint presentation by Chilean librarian Clara Budnik on libraries under the Pinochet dictatorship, and Ann Sparanese spoke on what librarians can do about destabilization and disinformation programs--a topic that became the focus of the discussion. Rhonda Neugebauer chaired the meeting. Jointly sponsored by SRRT and the Progressive Librarians Guild.

2006

“All the News You Never Get: Breaking the International News Blockade.” Speaker was journalist Kristina Borjesson. Presented by the SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2007

“The Data and Information Behind Truth: A Librarian’s Perspective on Global Warming.” On Al Gore’s book and film, An Inconvenient Truth. Speaker was Fred Stoss, University at Buffalo, Arts & Sciences Libraries, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Mathematics Librarian. Presented by SRRT Task Force on the Environment. Stoss was co-chair of the task force.

“Darfur: The Library’s Responsibility and the Community’s Need to Know.” Speakers were Angel Baptiste, Ph.D., African and Middle Eastern Division, Library of Congress; Mwiza Munthali, TransAfrica Forum, Washington D.C.; and Evelyn Sallah, AfricaAction, Washington D.C. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force with ALA Black Caucus.

2008

“Earth Wind and Fire @ Your Library: Changing Climate and Changing Lives.” Speaker was Fred Stoss from the University of Buffalo Library. Co-sponsored by the SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force and Task Force on the Environment.

2010

“Is It Safe to Go Outside? Health Effects of Climate Change and Global Warming.” Speaker was Lise Van Susteren, M.D., forensic psychiatrist and an environmental activist. Co-sponsored by SRRT Task Force on Environment with ACRL Interest Group on Health Science.

“Afghanistan in Context: the Background to the War that Every Librarian Should Know.” Speakers were Anne Brodsky, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Psychology and past Director of Gender and Women's Studies at University of Maryland, Baltimore County; Nasrine Gross, Afghan-American writer, women's rights activist, founder and president of Kabultec in the US and Roqia Center for Women's Rights, Studies, and Education in Afghanistan; and Fahima Vorgetts, director of Afghan Women's Fund. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2011

“Daniel Ellsberg on War and Secrecy.” Co-sponsored by SRRT with OLOS, Video Round Table, ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom, ALA President, and ALA Executive Director.

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” (film showing and Q & A with Daniel Ellsberg). Co-sponsored by SRRT with OLOS, Video Round Table, ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom, ALA President, and ALA Executive Director.

2012

“National Security vs. the Right to Know.” Speakers were William Binney, National Security Agency whistleblower; Emma Cape, Bradley Manning Support Network, and Patrice McDermott, director of OpenTheGovernment.org. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force, and Law and Political Science Section (LPSS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).

2013

“Returning Fire: Culture Jamming, War, & Militarism in the Online Gaming Sphere.” Included showing of film, Returning Fire. Speakers were the film’s director, communications professor Roger Stahl from the University of Georgia-Athens; and culture jammer and Digital Media/Fine Arts Professor at the University of Nevada-Reno, Joseph Delappe.

2015

“No Place to Hide: Whistleblowers Expose the Surveillance State.” Speaker was journalist Glenn Greenwald by Skype from Brazil. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

Showing of Laura Poitras’ film, Citizenfour, on mass surveillance. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

Showing of The Great Book Robbery, film on books confiscated from the Occupied Territories in 1948-1949. Speaker was Hannah Mermelstein from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“Librarians and Archivists with Palestine: Delegation Reportback.” Co-sponsored by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2016

“Palestinian Libraries Under Occupation.” Speakers were Randa Kamal, president of the Palestinian Library Association and recently retired as director of libraries at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem; and Diana Sayej-Naser, general coordinator of the Palestinian Library and Information Consortium (PALICO) and director of the Main Library at Birzeit University, West Bank. Co-sponsored by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force with Librarians and Archivists with Palestine.

2017

“Imagining a World That Works — In Time to Prevent a World That Doesn’t.” Speaker was Bill McKibben, author of the first book on global warming, and the founder of 350.org, a grassroots network, now in 188 countries. Co-sponsored by SRRT with the Sustainability Round Table, Asian/Pacific Librarians Association (APALA), and American Indian Library Association (AILA).

2018

“Assisting Palestinian Libraries.” Speakers were John Cassel, Co-chair & Treasurer of the Seraj Library Project; Melissa Morrone from Librarians and Archivists with Palestine; and Tom Twiss, Co-Coordinator of SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force and Librarian Emeritus, University of Pittsburgh. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

2019

“Subverting Other People's Elections: History and Resources.” Speaker was journalist, author, and scholar Stephen Kinzer. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“War Dangers Rising: Trump Foreign Policy & Lack Thereof.” Phyllis Bennis from the Institute for Policy Studies at SRRT’s 50th Anniversary Party in Washington, DC.

2020

“Libraries in Gaza: Between Despair and Hope.” Speaker was Mosab Abu-Toha, founder and director of Edward Said Public Library in Gaza. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force.

“Native American Treaty Rights in the Time of Covid-19.” Speakers were Tadd Johnson, senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations at University of Minnesota; Winona LaDuke, internationally known activist working on issues of sustainable development, renewable energy, and food systems, and founder and Executive Director of Honor the Earth; and Dallin Maybee, Assistant Director of Development for the Native American Rights Fund. Presented by SRRT International Responsibilities Task Force and Cosponsored by the American Indian Library Association (AILA).