Chinese blogger succesfully fights back?

Chinese censors are notorious for limiting the free speech of citizens. However, it looks like the Net has been loosened a little, as a Chinese court has sided with economics professor and critical blogger Hu Xingdou in his fight against authorities for shutting down his website. According to this article in the Financial Times, this is "first-ever case won by a victim of internet censorship in a Chinese court."

Is this a sign of changing times? Or a one-off situation unlikely to be repeated?

Small changes to the Community Bookshelf meeting

Just a notification of a small change of plans for tomorrow's Community Bookshelf meeting. The location has been changed, and if you're planning to attend, please contact Amelia Martin at amartin@epl.ca for more details.

Also, the Community Bookshelf subcommittee is still looking for additional volunteers for Homeless Connect - particularly in terms of helping to drop off the boxes of books beforehand (Saturday, May 23rd). And if anyone is interested in helping drop off some items at Operation Friendship in the near future, please let Amelia know!

Thanks everyone!

Community Bookshelf Meeting

All interested FLIFers are invited to attend the upcoming Community Bookshelf Subcommittee (formerly known as the GELA Bissell Centre Subcommittee) meeting. For more information on this project, click here. If you'd like more information, please feel free to contact Amelia Martin at amartin @ epl.ca.

The Community Bookshelf Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, May 7, at 6pm at the downtown Stanley A. Milner library (6th floor). Ask the security guards to key the elevator for you.

Also, Amelia Martin is seeking volunteers able to help with a bookdrop at Operation Friendship on Thursday or Friday, May 7-8. They're running out of books and are eager for a new drop off. If anyone is free, please let her know via the above email. A vehicle is always much appreciated to transport the books.

Thanks, and we hope to see you there!

Brianna, Julie, and Madelaine
FLIF Co-chairs, 2009-2010

A fond farewell and a brief introduction

With classes completed and papers submitted, FLIF co-chairs Richard and Masha are graduating and leaving the FLIF fold. Congratulations to both of you, and many thanks for a wonderful two years of service in Future Librarians for Intellectual Freedom! New co-chairs Brianna, Julie, and Madelaine have some mighty big shoes to fill and we look forward to continuing the fine work you've done.

In addition to existing partnerships, we hope to broaden our horizons with a greater focus on issues in international librarianship. Stay tuned for more information!

Brianna, Julie, and Madelaine,
FLIF Co-chairs 2009-2010

Progressives head to the Alberta Library Conference

The Alberta Library Conference happens later this week. The conference theme is “Cultivating our Future: Seeds for Success,” and the program includes a variety of sessions/themes that relate to issues of intellectual freedom and social responsibility. The environment, alternative materials, and services to diverse communities and excluded populations: all of these will receive some attention at this year’s conference.

Here are some of the sessions that, we think, bring together libraries and the library and information profession with outreach movements, social change, and IFSR issues. And if you need a reminder of what those issues are, please see the post linked here.

Friday
Session B1 Thinking Critically About Sustainable Development
Presenter: Keith Seel

B7 Connecting with New Canadians: Growing Library Services and Programs for Culturally Diverse Populations
Presenters: Shannon Vossepoel and Tamara Van Horne

B11 Dollars and Sense: The Marriage of Economic Success and the Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector
Presenters: Karen Lynch and Russ Dahms

C6 Perspectives on Aboriginal Publishing: A Look at the Aboriginal Publishing Industry from an Aboriginal Viewpoint
Presenters: Larry Loyie and Constance Brissenden

Saturday
F5 Public Libraries as Community Places
Presenter: Francine May

F9 Growing a Prison Library: The Greater Edmonton Library Association Experience
Presenters: Kirsten Wurmann, Valla McLean, Liz Dennett, Allison Sivak

F11 Lorne McRae Intellectual Freedom Lecture
Presenter: FLIF (Masha, Richard, Tara, and Madelaine will be heading to Jasper to share our student perspectives and discuss some of our current and future projects. We’re honoured to have the opportunity.).

G3 Libraries as LEEDers
Presenter: Gerry Meek

G6 Gender Expression: an Interpretation of the CLA’s 2008 Statement on Diversity and Inclusion
Presenter: Moyra Lang

G10 Open Access: What’s In It for My Library?
Presenters: Andrew Waller and Heather Morrison

H3 Sustainable Library Design: Attitudes for the Future
Presenter: Carmel Gatt

H8 Serving Socially Excluded Populations through Community Development Librarianship
Presenter" Amelia Martin

H9 Growing Your Library’s Resource Landscape
Presenter: Leeanne Morrow

H10 Advocating an Alberta Feed to CLA’s Annual Survey on Challenges in Canadian Libraries
Presenter: Toni Samek

We recommend that you try to catch these sessions if you can. Too bad so many of them overlap :( If there’s an ALC session that belongs on this list that we missed, please let us know by emailing flifblog @ gmail.com (without the spaces).

All the best to the presenters, their guests, and all conference-goers. See you in Jasper!

FLIF receives UofA Senate recognition

FLIF is pleased to inform you that our student group has been nominated for the University of Alberta Senate's Beyond These Halls community service recognition program.

This Senate distinction recognizes the community service efforts of all groups and individuals that are nominated, but they also select certain individuals/groups to acknowledge at a celebration event. We have recently been informed that the Senate has selected FLIF as one of the groups to be specifically recognized at this ceremony.

Group members, supporters, and guests may join the festivities, and any FLIF committee members and anyone from the School or community wanting to attend are welcome.

The celebration event is:
Wednesday, March 25th
Timms Centre for the Arts
4-5:30pm
The Senate office has requested RSVPs to senate.office@ualberta.ca.

We want everyone to know that it is the commitment of our members and FLIF supporters that make us a strong student group, one able to give back to our community. It is nice to have the efforts of past and present FLIF committee members and efforts recognized in this fashion, and our thanks go out to everyone for their encouragement. Finally, we feel that the partnerships we’ve forged with the UofA CLA Student Chapter and the members of GELA's advocacy and outreach subcommittees have created unique opportunities for FLIF. We hope that these groups and their members will share this distinction with us, as their excellent contributions make us the group we are today.

Masha and Richard
FLIF Co-chairs, 2008/09

Banned books cafe and Journal story

I just got in from the Banned Books Cafe at EPL. This was another great event celebrating Freedom to Read Week. Members of the audience read from banned or challenged books, including some of our FLIF members. Thanks to Caroline and Ray for their efforts organizing this event, and for inviting us to join them. Thanks as well to EPL for hosting, and continuing to remind our community about the freedom to read.

Also, a story from today's Edmonton Journal was brought to my attention. It discusses Amin Amir, a Somali-born artist cartoonist now living in Edmonton. His political cartoons are read internationally, and their content would cause him no end of troubles in Somalia. It is in part because of the intellectual freedoms we enjoy here in Canada that Mr. Amir is able to continue his work. (Link here)

FtRW is here

In support of Freedom to Read Week, the UofA CLA Student Chapter and Future Librarians for Intellectual Freedom (FLIF) are participating in this annual information campaign.

Members of our respective groups can be found in the HUB Mall pedway between 9am to 3pm each day this week.

Come learn more about Freedom to Read Week and intellectual freedom, buy some of our swag (we have buttons!), or simply check out the controversial material we’ll have on display.

With a minimum donation of $2, you're eligible to enter our raffle for an iPod Shuffle. All proceeds from the buttons and raffle will be donated to the Women’s Prison and Bissell Centre Projects sponsored by the Greater Edmonton Library Association. (For more information on these projects, please visit GELA's advocacy and outreach webpage.)

See you there!

Here's a quick shot of today's setup (with apologies for the poor image quality).