Tag Archives: intellectual freedom

Advocacy, Books, School Media Specialist

Minnesota Principal Defends Absolutely True Diary from Challenge

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

 

 

This article is from  the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund:

By

“Good news from Minnesota! Following receipt of a letter from National Coalition Against Censorship member organizations including CBLDF, the principal of New London-Spicer Middle School responded that she will recommend keeping Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in the 8th grade curriculum. The book was challenged by parents who said it contained “gratuitous and unnecessary” profanity and references to sexual acts.

This challenge to Alexie’s novel is not to be confused with the one in neighboring Wisconsin, where the superintendent of the Sauk Prairie School District is also recommending that it remain in the curriculum. In the Minnesota case, NCAC members this week sent a letter to New London-Spicer Middle School principal Trish Perry urging her to consider the value of the book as a whole, and the negative precedent that would be set by allowing a few parents to dictate curricular selections for all students. Yesterday, Perry responded to thank NCAC for the letter and said she will recommend that Absolutely True Diary be retained because she “[values] the work that is in the book.”

Perry’s support is certainly a positive step, but it may not be the end of the line for this challenge. According to New London-Spicer School District policy, if the complainants are unsatisfied with her recommendation they may request a meeting with the superintendent and then the school board. Although Perry is defending the book in this case, this type of challenge policy leaves curricular materials too vulnerable to unilateral censorship by one person, as we’ve seen in past cases. The letter from NCAC also recommended that New London-Spicer revise its policy to adopt the more common model of forming a review committee to consider challenges to materials, and offered assistance in formulating such a policy if needed.

Luckily, New London-Spicer superintendent Paul Carlson also seems to support the book, saying in a radio interview that it contains “some very good topics about a 14-year-old boy who wants to better his life and overcome poverty.” He plans to meet with the complainants as well, but expects that the challenge will be on the agenda at the next school board meeting on June 12.

Below, check out the letter NCAC sent to Principal Perry this week. We will be on the lookout for updates!

(Read the rest of this article here!)

Advocacy, Programs, Services

Intellectual Freedom News 5/12/17

This is our issue! This is what we, as library people, do for our communities – and the need to protect the intellectual freedom of our communities is very strong right now.

We are passing on this newsletter; and the information on subscribing is at the end.

“Intellectual Freedom Highlights

  • Banned books and (nearly) murdered authors | OZY: “When the Nazis first started burning books, Sigmund Freud saw it as a positive thing — even though, as a Jewish author, his books were systematically thrown atop the pyre. The famed psychoanalyst knew, after all, that things could have been a lot worse. His reasoning? ‘Look, we’re becoming more civilized: We’re burning books, not people,’ says James LaRue, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. But Freud would soon be disillusioned, when, shortly thereafter, ‘the Nazis started burning people too,’ LaRue adds.”
  • Censorship or Hate Crime? | Intellectual Freedom Blog; “Book burning, tearing pages, destroying books in disrespectful and obscene ways are all methods of censorship. If the books are representative of a specific group of people like the Qur’an is of Muslims, is the censorship also a hate crime?”
  • Apply for a Freedom to Read Foundation Grant for Banned Books Week events! Deadline today, May 12! 

Continue reading Intellectual Freedom News 5/12/17 →

Resources, Training

ALSC/AASL Collaborative Community Forum: Archived Webcast Access

From the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC):

“On Thursday, March 23, 2017, the ALSC Board of Directors and ALSC President Vice President/President-Elect Nina Lindsay and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) co-hosted an  ALSC Community Forum live chat on the topic of digital literacy, digital citizenship for children in libraries.

This forum addressed the questions: with library and education funding and policy in question, who is teaching children information literacy–where, and how?  From “fake news,” to new privacy concerns, to government “data rescue” and the threat to intellectual freedom with loss of data and access to broadband,  what on-the-ground strategies can library staff in public and school libraries employ to prepare children to be digitally literate citizens? Continue reading ALSC/AASL Collaborative Community Forum: Archived Webcast Access →

Advocacy, General, Resources

Intellectual Freedom News from ALA

As part of our commitment to providing our members with news from around the profession, we are copying information for you from the latest ALA newsletter from the Office of Intellectual Freedom! Supporting the intellectual freedom of your patrons is an important aspect of being an library professional; so here is some news on how this topic is shaping up around the country!

At the end is information on how to subscribe for yourself, or to follow them on social media.

Continue reading Intellectual Freedom News from ALA →

Academic, Check this out:, Communication, Public, School Media Specialist, Services, Special

ALA News: Intellectual Freedom

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As library people, our code of ethics pushes us to strongly respect and defend the intellectual freedom of the communities we serve. You can see this commitment across the American Library Association, including at the Office of Intellectual Freedom.

CMLE Headquarters likewise is passionate about this topic, so we are passing on some news from the ALA. We are copying their material here this month so you can see what is going on right now; but you can always go to their site yourself and get familiar with the issues facing us across the profession. You do not need to be an ALA member – this is for all of us in libraries to know and to share.

We are the guardians of free access to information for our communities; it’s not a responsibility to take lightly. Let’s all get familiar with these topics, so we are ready before problems come to our library!

Scroll down to the bottom (or read all the way through!), and consider signing up for the training offered in January: How to Respond to a Security Incident in Your Library. Continue reading ALA News: Intellectual Freedom →