Challenged Books

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (Book - 2006)

2007: After receiving a single complaint, the Halton (ON) Catholic District School Board ordered the withdrawal of these fantasy novels for young readers from the open shelves of libraries in elementary schools. The books were collected at library circulation desks, and students who wished to read the novels had to ask librarians for copies. The board also formed a committee to review the books. Within days, the Roman Catholic school board in Peterborough (ON) received two complaints about the novels and withdrew copies from school libraries. In Peterborough, school employees denied students access to the novels while the board set up a committee to review the novels. The Durham (ON) Catholic District School Board followed suit. The Calgary (AB) Catholic School District told employees to pull the novels from library shelves, not use the novels in classrooms and exclude the books from Scholastic book fairs. In Calgary, the school board also established a committee to review the novels.
Cause of objection: The stories, which are set in an alternative universe populated with talking animals, undermine belief in God and organized religion and promote atheism.
Update: In 2007, the Halton (ON) Catholic District School Board ignored the recommendation of its review committee and voted to ban the novels from schools. The board’s order proclaimed, “Philip Pullman’s trilogy of atheist ideology, carefully couched within the realm of fantasy for young readers, is in direct opposition to the mission statement and governing values of our board.” But a few weeks later, in 2008, the board of the Calgary (AB) Catholic School District decided to use The Golden Compass in schools. “There is no doubt that the text is harsh in terms of its language about organized religion and that it presents a consistently negative view of church, clergy and faith-based institutions; however, there are glimpses of light with opportunities for positive reflection,” the review document said. The board urged teachers, when using The Golden Compass, to use instruction guides to ensure “a carefully planned approach” and a Catholic focus.

FTRW on Campus - Goran Simic at UofA Bookstore

More FTRW events happening on campus this week, Thanks to Carly for sending this along to the blog:

Edmonton's 2010-11 writer-in-exile Goran Simic will be doing a poetry reading at the U of Alberta bookstore in SUB tomorrow, Thursday February 24th from 1pm-2pm.  

Coffee and treats will be provided and I hear attendees are welcome to keep their coffee mugs featuring quotes about freedom to read and censorship. 

Goran Simic was born in Bosnia in 1952. He has published eleven books of poetry, drama, and short fiction, including the acclaimed volume of poems in English translation, Sprinting from the Graveyard (Oxford University Press, 1997). In Canada, Simic has published Peace and War, a limited edition volume gathering poems by himself and by Fraser Sutherland; other books of his poetry and drama have been translated into nine languages. His poems are included in anthologies of world poetry, such as Scanning the Century (Penguin, 2002) and Banned Poetry (Index, 1997). He has received major literary awards from PEN USA and four times in former Yugoslavia. He lives and works in Edmonton, Sarajevo and Toronto.



This sounds like a incredible opportunity and we hope to see you there!

Challenged Books

Wild Fire, A Novel By Nelson DeMille (Book - 2006)

2007: A patron of the Edmonton Public Library complained about this thriller. In the novel, which is set in 2002, a group of powerful Americans secretly plot to provoke a nuclear attack on the Middle East in retaliation for the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. in 2001.
Cause of objection: The complainant said Wild Fire was “just another hate promoting novel.”
Update: The library retained the book in its collection.

Freedom to Read Week

"It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular, or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials." - Canadian Library Association

Welcome to Freedom to Read Week! What are you doing to celebrate or raise awareness this week?

Challenged Books

Throughout the week we will be hilighting some of the books that have been recently challenge at Canadian libraries and the reasons they were opposed. We are using the excellent EPL website as our resource for this feature and we really encourage you to check out all of the information they have available for FTRW and other special events - http://www.epl.ca/

To start off with, a classic:

The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood, Margaret (Book - 1985)

2008: In Toronto, a parent formally complained about the use of this dystopian novel in a Grade 12 English class at Lawrence Park Collegiate. Cause of objection: The parent said that the novel’s “profane language,” anti-Christian overtones, “violence” and “sexual degradation” probably violated the district school policies that require students to show respect and tolerance to one another.
Update: In 2009, a review panel of the Toronto District School Board recommended that schools keep the novel in the curriculum in Grades 11 and 12.

FTRW - Story Time for Grown-ups

Welcome to Freedom to Read Week (and reading week on the U of A campus). EPL is hosting a really exciting event this Thursday Feb 24th starting at 7pm at the ARTery - 9535 Jasper Ave.

Come and enjoy some risque, post-valentine's day adult story reading that promises to range from Shakespear to the Marquis de Sade to Woody Allen.

Erotica are works of art, including literature, that deal substantively with erotically stimulating or sexually arousing descriptions. Celebrate Freedom to Read by joining us for an evening of erotic tales. Our readers, Linda Paksi and Tim Anderson, will be reading select erotic stories and poems - many from authors in our collection.

Don't be shy, the price is right (free admission!) - hope to see you there!

"Parents Against Bad Books In Schools" Group as Scary as They Sound

Reblogged from Jezebel Feb 10/11

"Parents Against Bad Books In Schools" are among a recent surge in groups looking to remove "bad" books from libraries in North America. The definition of what makes a book "bad" in the eyes of these groups can range widely but often focus on homosexual characters, themes, and sex. 

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(Challenged books have included Running with Scissors; The Things They Carried; One Hundred Years of Solitude.) Groups like PABBIS are becoming more numerous and better organized. Says Joan Bertin of the National Coalition Against Censorship,

Groups of parents are getting together and organizing in their communities to ban books...I think what's happening is once a book is challenged in one town, people on the same wavelength, it will flag that book for them. For example, we've seen three challenges to Sherman Alexie's teen novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, all within the past three months, two in Missouri, one in Montana.

While not all challenges are successful at getting books removed from curriculum or libraries, 25% (the estimated success rate) is a lot of books. And the problem, in some sense, is the larger issue: this isn't about individual parents throwing out books, although that's sad enough. Rather, as Bertin says, it's not in a vacuum.

We never have a problem with people who don't want their own kid to read a book...We have a problem with people who feel these books are corrosive to the culture, and they don't want them taught in schools. They think it's immoral and offends their religious values, whether they're Jewish, Christian or Muslim. (emphasis mine)

 This kind of moralizing and presuming that one's values should be extended to everyone in society is disturbing but can be difficult for elementary school educators to oppose. It is much harder to make an argument for trusting young readers, having nuanced discussions about real world issues and a diversity of opinions voiced in schools but I think it is a critical issue that librarians have to face.
Kudos to the librarians who have to deal with these social pressures and make intelligent, sane, eloquent arguments for freedom of speech (and reading).

FLIF Wrapping Party *Today*

Just a quick reminder that we will be having a wrapping party in Henderson Hall starting at 6pm today. We will be  wrapping up some choice romance novels in anticipation of our Pint of Romance event following FIP this Friday and there may be some v-day candy involved.
We have organized an informal get together at Lucky13 on Whyte Ave for this Friday evening. FLIF members and their guests are on the guest list until 10pm. Come on out to dance away some of the library school stress and receive the gift of a little love (in the form of some classic Harlequin titles) from FLIF. Everyone is welcome and we hope to see everyone there in their future librarian finest.

There is no cover if you arrive before 10pm - we're on the list as 'library school'

International Week at the U of A

Today is the start of International Week on campus at the U of A. There are over 60 *free* events about global issues happening on campus between today and Friday  and it looks like those of us interested in intellectual freedom could have a very busy week. The full program guide is online here: www.iweek.ualberta.ca but there are two events that are of particular interest for library lovers:

*Today* - Monday Jan 31st, 3-4pm in the Education Centre S Rm 129 

There is a film screening of Armed With Knowledge: The Intellectual Freedom Fighters today. I know it is incredibly cold out today, but this one hour film sounds fascinating and a great way to break up a cold Monday.

Does everyone have fair and equal access to information? In the revealing documentary, Armed with Knowledge, progressive librarians come together to discuss issues and problems with information access for marginalized and newcomer communities. Discover the  world of censorship and access through the eyes of your local librarian, and how they fight for your right to information.

Thursday Feb 3rd from 11am-12:30pm

Angelica Tarnowski and Kristen Rumohr from the Millwods Branch library and Dr. Toni Samek of our own School of Library and Information Studies will be leading talks in the Tory Lecture Theatre 1

Out of the Stacks and into the Community: The Library's Approach to Newcomers
Community-led philosophy is a recent  phenomenon that has come to the Edmonton Public Library; but what is it, really? Librarians from EPL will discuss their responsibilities in ensuring that the library is a welcoming and relevant place for newcomers and members of the multicultural community, and how they look for ways to connect with newcomer youth to meet their library needs. Dr. Toni Samek will also deliver a talk about migration and library issues in the United States, written by Kathleen de la Pena McCook, distinguished university professor at the University of Southern Florida and immigration rights advocate.

We hope to see you there as we gear up for Freedom to Read Week later this month. More information about FLIF and EPL events will be posted in the upcoming weeks. 

If you missed any of these or other events during International Week and would like to know more about it, the international week organizers are blogging the week at http://internationalweek.wordpress.com/ with some events being podcasted.

FLIF Meeting!

Just a quick reminder that there is a FLIF meeting tomorrow (Thursday November 25th) at noon in Henderson Hall.

Hope to see you there! (There will be cookies)

ALA to Creates Award for LGBT Children's Books

The American Library Association has announced that it is adding the Stonewall Children's and Young Adult Literature Award to its slate of prizes for children's literature. The award will honor "English-language works for children and teens of exceptional merit relating to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered experience." There has been a Stonewall award for adult books for 40 years, but until now, no corresponding prize for kids' lit. However, says ALA president Roberta Stevens,

Millions of children in this country are being raised by gay or lesbian parents. There are young people who are gay and sometimes they feel very alone. This is a real opportunity for youths who may be feeling alone to read about other like themselves.

Unfortunately gay kids and kids with gay parents hearing all too often that stories about their families are immoral, inappropriate or dirty (one parent called And Tango Makes Three "a homosexual storyline that has been sugar-coated with cute penguins"). Hopefully the Stonewall awards will send these kids a better message and lead to the publication of more great books with a diversity of people represented.

Thank-you FLIFers!

A huge thanks to all of the FLIF-ers who came out over the past two weeks to help us sort the many (many!) boxes of donated books in Henderson Hall and for our amazing volunteer team who helped out making Homeless Connect a success.            

 On Sunday, Oct 17th FLIF participated in Edmonton Homeless Connect where we distributed free books to the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. Book donations were generously provided by EPL, the University of Alberta Libraries and FLIF members.

Our early morning team unloaded the truck and set up our booth and we kept the tables stocked throughout the day.

This is one of FLIF's biggest events of the year and we distributed over 20 boxes of books.

A huge thank you to everyone who participated and we hope to see you back for the next Homeless Connect in May 2011.



*all photos by Jorden and Shannon, your FLIF 2010/2011 co-chairs

FLIF Book Sorting Pary

Don't forget that the FLIF book sorting party will be tomorrow (Friday Oct 15th) from noon until about 3 or 4pm (depending on how long it takes) in Henderson Hall.
We will be packing up a ton of materials for Homeless Connect this Sunday as well as our Community Bookshelf project.
Hope to see you tomorrow - even if you don't have time to sort some books stop by for some snacks and a quick chat, we would love to hear your ideas for FLIF for the upcoming year!

CBC Bans the Use of Creative Commons Music on Podcasts

The producers of Spark, CBC radio’s digital culture show which has often used Creative Commons music in their broadcasts and podcasts have revealed that the public broadcaster has banned them from using CC music.


Evident from the excerpts of user comments from the Spark blog included below, the CBC has banned the use of CC licensed music from their podcasts because it goes “against some of the details in collective agreements [the CBC] hold(s) with certain talent agencies.”

In other words, groups are actively working to block the use of Creative Commons licensed materials in their contractual agreements. It is extremely problematic and discouraging to hear that the CBC is banned from using CC materials that the artists want to make freely available. The CBC obviously isn't required to use Creative Commons licensed music, but this highlights an instance where at least one of it’s programs wants to use it and groups that purport to support artists' right to choose the rights associated with their work is trying to stop them from doing so.



Comments from the Spark blog:

@mattperreault (listener, via twitter): I was looking for the links to the "Creative Commons" music used in this episode. I can't find the link? Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place?

Dan Misener (Spark producer): Hi, Matt. You're not looking in the wrong place. There's simply no Creative Commons music used in this episode. By management decree, CBC podcasts are no longer permitted to use CC music. Instead, we're using the APM Music library (http://www.apmmusic.com/), which is copyright cleared and fully licensed by the CBC.


Lily (CBC Radio Podcasting): It turned out that our use of Creative Commons licensed music was going against some of the details in collective agreements we hold with certain talent agencies. As such, we had to discontinue our use of it.

Social Justice in the Stacks: Progressive Activism in the Information Professions

The new Edmonton chapter of the Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG) is presenting a panel discussion at SLIS about the intersections between social justice and the information and library professions. Admission is free and the event will be on Thursday, November 4th at 7pm in Henderson Hall on the U of Alberta campus.
 

Social equality issues such as access to information, documentation of society, and free distribution of knowledge are core principles of modern libraries and archives.  However, these principles are often de-accentuated in the day-to-day management of libraries and archives and information professionals can find themselves detached from a social justice perspective.

 
Topics discussed will include academic freedom, professionals as workers, access to archival holdings, representation of marginalized voices, public libraries as sites of contention, and the purpose of the PLG.  Speakers include the following (please note that speakers are not appearing on behalf of their respective institutions):
 

• Toni Samek – Professor, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta
• Amanda Bird – Librarian, Edmonton Public Library
• Braden Cannon – Archivist, Provincial Archives of Alberta/University of Calgary
• Raymond Frogner – Archivist, University of Alberta
• Rene Georgopalis – Archivist, Musée Héritage Museum and Archives (St. Albert)

 
For more information about PLG and this panel discussion you can visit their main website:  http://libr.org/plg/index.php

GELA Beers Beyond Bars Pub Night this Friday!

The Greater Edmonton Library Association is hosting their 2010 Pub Night this Friday, Oct 8th from 6pm-10pm at Ceilis' Irish Pub in Edmonton (10338 109th St) 
This event raises money to support GELA's Prison Library and Reintegration Committee projects and is a great way to meet some very cool library folk in Edmonton. Tickets are $10 (which includes a free drink before 10pm and snacks)

 book bar image from here

There will be a raffle draw at 9pm.

Although there will be a limited number of tickets available at the door, it would be best if you could email Tara (tforman@ualberta.ca) to reserve your spot.

 For more information about the GELA Prison Library Project, GELA and LISAA check out the links below:

GELA http://www.gela.ca/

LISAA http://lisaa.ca/

Prison Library and Reintegration Committee http://gelaprison.wordpress.com/

Google Tracking International Government Censorship

Last week BBC reported on a new Google resource that maps online censorship, displaying the frequency different national governments requested information about web users and censor online services.

http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/governmentrequests/

Information on China (as Slashdot points out) is conspicuously absent. This is an interesting development as Google has increasingly come under criticism for handing over information about users to governments and cooperating with China's desire to heavily censor what online content is available to it's citizens.

What do you think about Google's online practices and the way they deal with censor-heavy nations like China? As online information and what users do on social networking sites and read online becomes increasingly available for scrutiny what responsibilities do companies like Google, governments and international organization have to internet users?

Where, Why and How the Economist is Censored

The Economist recently published an article about the countries that have banned the popular magazine and for what reasons since 2009. The reasons range from geo-political arguments to nudity (see the cover depicting Adam and Eve below) to religious conflicts. 

Ellen Hopkins' Anti-Censorship Manifesto

Thanks to Jen for sending this great article from the Huffington Post about one author's experience dealing with censorship.

Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank and Glass, who explores controversial topics in her writing such as addiction, prostitution, suicide and violence has encountered her share of censors who have lobbied to ban her books and cancel speaking engagements. In this article she eloquently describe her work and events she was invited to speak at and then subsequently blocked by various authority figures. 

Interestingly, in Hopkins' experience librarians have both rallied to her defense, pushing to have her speak to their students and communities, as well as acting to prevent her from speaking at their schools. At a recent teen lit event Hopkins was removed from the speakers panel due to complaints about her subject matter. Subsequently the event was cancelled when the other YA authors scheduled refused to support an event that would censor a member of their community. 

At the end of this article Hopkins includes the fantastic Manifesto she wrote for Banned Books Week 2009 I want to reproduce here in it's entirety - click here for a pdf version

Manifesto 

To you zealots and bigots and false
patriots who live in fear of discourse.
You screamers and banners and burners
who would force books
off shelves in your brand name
of greater good.

You say you're afraid for children,
innocents ripe for corruption
by perversion or sorcery on the page.
But sticks and stones do break
bones, and ignorance is no armor.
You do not speak for me,
and will not deny my kids magic
in favor of miracles.

You say you're afraid for America,
the red, white, and blue corroded
by terrorists, socialists, the sexually
confused. But we are a vast quilt
of patchwork cultures and multi-gendered
identities. You cannot speak for those
whose ancestors braved
different seas.

You say you're afraid for God,
the living word eroded by Muhammed
and Darwin and Magdalene.
But the omnipotent sculptor of heaven
and earth designed intelligence.
Surely you dare not speak
for the father, who opens
his arms to all.

A word to the unwise.
Torch every book.
Char every page.
Burn every word to ash.
Ideas are incombustible.
And therein lies your real fear.

Operation Dark Heart - more info

The censorship of the original version of Operation Dark Heart has been making the rounds through national and international news sources. It is nice to see this issue getting so much attention and it is encouraging to know that people have not become complicit in literary censorship, even when it involves nationalistic and military events.
To see some additional coverage of this story check out this video:

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

you can also get more information from the official book site:
Operation Dark Heart

Time Magazine also has a brief article about the controversy and some interesting links to more information about book banning and Banned Books Week in the US

Howl at the EFF

Wow! I am cutting this announcement a little close (thanks so much to Carla for emailing about this film!)

The Edmonton Film Festival is screening Howl tonight at 7:15 at the Empire City Centre Theatre. It looks like a great film and deals with censorship of Ginsberg's famous work Howl.

James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg - poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL.

Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (David Strathairn) sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while suave defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Jon Hamm) argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of unusual witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, Alesssandro Nivola) pit generation against generation and art against fear.

From the filmmaking team that gave us The Celluloid Closet and The Times of Harvey Milk, HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption, and an imaginative, animated ride through a prophetic masterpiece.

Hope to see lots of FLIF-ers there!

*UPDATE* "Operation Dark Heart" soon to hit the bestseller lists (thanks to the US Defense Dept)

*UPDATE!*
According to a CNN update late last night the Pentagon has gone ahead and purchased the first run of nearly 10,000 copies and destroyed them on September 20th.
A second edition of the book is being released by the publisher (St. Martin's Press) with information the US government objected to removed.

I think the author's comment nicely sums up the ridiculous nature of this action by the Pentagon:

"The whole premise smacks of retaliation," Shaffer told CNN on Saturday. "Someone buying 10,000 books to suppress a story in this digital age is ludicrous."

I love Shaffer's comment about the futility of buying and burning books. This ridiculous situation just highlights how influential digital resources are in the free flow of information and how futile it is to try and stop the spread of information by burning books. Symbolically though this is an event to be angry about.
As we head into Banned Books Week in the US this is certainly a timely issue and I hope people make the effort to speak out about this kind of censorship.

 So, anyone know where we can access a digital copy for the first edition?

_________________________________________________________________

from the Washington Post (Sept 10, 2010)

Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer's memoir "Operation Dark Heart" is about to sell out it's first run of 10,000 copies as the US Defense Department hopes to keep the book out of the hands of readers by purchasing the entire printing. The entire first edition is slated to be destroyed if the Defense Department succeeds. 


The memoir recounts Shaffer's time as a reservist in Afghanistan in 2003 and describes several covert operations. The book was officially approved by the Army Reserve in early 2010, but objections to the use of the names of US officers among other details were raised after written approval had been granted.  

A second printing will have controversial information removed as agreed upon by Shaffer, the publisher and the Army Reserve/DIA representatives, but the fate of this first printing is undecided. Currently the first printing is sitting in a warehouse awaiting disposal by the Defense Dept. 

Quoting the Washington Post article:

"Several dozen review copies of the first edition have already been circulated to media outlets, including The Washington Post."

It is questionable what the Pentagon hopes to achieve by destroying this printing when the information has 'leaked' in the form of review copies. In light of the wikileaks debates, the value of information that is over five years old related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is controversial. Will this information potentially compromise military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, or is the danger in casting governments in a poor light? 


Interestingly (and timely on the 9th anniversary of September 11th), the author of this memoir, Anthony Shaffer is also known for "alleging before the 9/11 Commission and Congress that a covert Pentagon task force called "Able Danger" had identified Mohamed Atta, the lead hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks, before the assaults on New York and the Pentagon. Shaffer's claim was later rejected by congressional investigators, among others. But he repeats the assertion in the book" (Finn, Peter & Greg Miller, Pentagon aims to buy up book. Washington Post online, Sept 10, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/09/AR2010090907747.html accessed Sept 10, 2010.)

This guy thinks SPEAK is pornography

Remember last September, when the book banners crawled out of their pits of nastiness to try to remove YA literature from classrooms and libraries?
It is September again, my friends.
Wesley Scroggins is an associate professor of management at Missouri State University. He was also a speaker at Reclaiming Missouri for Christ, a recent seminar whose purpose was to “To educate our pastors, legislators, educators, students, and all citizens as to the truth about America’s Christian Heritage and the role of fundamental, Biblical Christianity in the establishment and function of our legal, legislative, and educational system, and to work towards the successful reestablishment of these values in our society.”
(Note: I love Jesus. My dad is a United Methodist minister. I point out Scroggins’ affiliation with this group so readers can understand his larger agenda.)
Wesley wrote an opinion piece in the News-Leader of Springfield, MO, in which he characterized SPEAK as filthy and immoral. Then he called it “soft pornography” because of two rape scenes.
The fact that he sees rape as sexually exciting (pornographic) is disturbing, if not horrifying. It gets worse, if that’s possible, when he goes on to completely mischaracterize the book.
Some people say that I shouldn’t make a big deal about this. That I am giving him more attention than he deserves. But this guy lives about an hour and half from the school district that banned Sherman Alexie’s THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN this month.
My fear is that good-hearted people in Scroggins’ community will read his piece and believe what he says. And then they will complain to the school board. And then the book will be pulled and then all those kids who might have found truth and support in the book will be denied that. In addition, all the kids who have healthy emotional lives but who hate reading, will miss the chance to enjoy a book that might change their opinion.
All because some wingnut grabbed the opinion page of his newspaper, bellowed his lies, and no one challenged him.
I have already received incredible support on Facebook and in my inbox. Paul Hankins, an English teacher from Indiana, has started a Twitterfeed -  #SpeakLoudly  – where people can tweet their opinions. And my hero, Judy Blume, wrote to say she is bringing this nonsense to the attention of the National Council Against Censorship.
(I must confess – receiving a message from Judy Blume made me shriek a little. I am such a fangrrl of hers.)
I love the support from the blogosphere, but am concerned that the people in Scroggins’ community who might be swayed by his nonsense are not reading those blogs or following Twitter feeds on the topic. So I am writing to the school district superintendent and to the newspaper. But I know (because I’ve been here before) that my comments will likely be greeted with scepticism because I have a vested interest in the process.
I need your help.
Please share your experiences with SPEAK; your own response to the book, or the way you’ve seen it work in a school setting. Tahleen has already posted her thoughts on her blog. You can do the same. Please share links to your blog in Comments.
But then, please speak up to the people who can make a real difference in Republic, MO.
You can submit a letter to the editor of the News-Leader.
You can write to the superintendent of the Republic School District, Dr. Vern Minor, or to the high school principal, Daren Harris.
You can comment directly to Scroggins’ opinion piece.
Here I am reading “Listen” the poem I wrote based on reader response to SPEAK.

Banned Books Week is only a few days away. Consider this your chance to get a head start on speaking up about a good book and defending the intellectual freedoms guaranteed us in our Constitution.

Reprinted with permission from Laurie Hales Anderson's awesome blog:  http://madwomanintheforest.com/

Alaskan Libraries & Bookstore Sue Over Stifling New Law

From the Alaska Dispatch - Sept 15, 2010

Alaskan libraries and bookstores are concerned by the passing of Senate Bill 222 which proposes changes to state law to toughen human trafficking, sex offense and child pornography laws with increased jail time and broader allowances for police officers to pursue offenders. Specifically, Sean Parnell (Governor of Alaska) claimed that it would give the state's Internet Crimes Against Children unit "more tools to pursue those who view and engage in distribution of child pornography,"
After trying unsuccessfully to address concerns that this bill would infringe on first amendment rights with the governor, librarians and book store owners say they've got no choice but to sue. They argue the revised law criminalizes material adults have a constitutionally protected right to access -- literature, works of art, educational materials and any other items that may contain nudity or sexually explicit content. The way the amendment is currently written innocent people could face criminal charges including librarians and bookstore owners who stock materials that fall under these broad guidelines.

From the Alaska Dispatch article:

It's a situation in which a few small word changes may have sweeping consequences. SB 222 amended the prior censorship law, in part, by deleting the word "electronic" from references about distribution of material, and the word "visual" from references to how material is depicted. The plaintiffs believe those changes unacceptably widen the law's reach far beyond the Internet and the narrow situations -- sexual predators disseminating material to children -- that the law is meant to target.

Conceivably, a retailer selling unlawful materials to anyone under the age of 16 could end up a convicted felon, spend two years in jail, be forced to register as a sex offender, and lose their business, according to a prepared statement released by the plaintiffs' legal teams.

Alaskan librarians are concerned that the law could limit materials libraries could legally circulate including sex education materials, romance novels, fine art books, graphic novels and even best-sellers that deal with mature themes (like Stieg Larsson's popular Millennium Trilogy). The wording of this amendment makes all of the difference. Those involved in the suit against the state recognize that while protection of children is important, the bill needs to very specifically target illegal materials. Broad definitions of 'obscene materials' force libraries and other media providers to strictly moderate all of the materials they stock and post online to a point that is completely unsustainable. It is impossible to know the full content of all books, movies, music, magazines,etc that a library or book seller holds and moderating access online to block underage users is extremely difficult. 


Title Wave Books and Bosco's in Anchorage, Fireside Books in Palmer, Don Douglas Photography in Juneau, the Alaska Library Association and the Alaska office of the American Civil Liberties Union are among the local plaintiffs. They are joined by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Association of American Publishers, Inc., Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Entertainment Merchants Association and the Freedom to Read Foundation, which represent member organizations throughout the United States. All of these organizations are highly deserving of our support and sweeping legislative changes like these can have wide impacts that cannot always be predicted. Being vocal about infringement on the right to access information and materials, particularly when it is couched in seemingly altruistic and 'unquestionably good' causes like protecting vulnerable children, is critically important.


For more information on what you can do to help check out the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund - a great resource for information advocates.

Report Released: Challenges to Canadian Library Resources and Policies in 2009

The Canadian Library Association recently released their "Challenges to Canadian Library Resources and Policies in 2009: Report of the Annual Survey of the Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom." The report summarizes challenges to library material and provides a list of challenged material from 2009.  

From the Canadian Library Association, submitted by Alvin Schrader, on behalf of the CLA IFC, September 2010:

Findings of the 2009 survey show that challenges continue to occur in publicly funded Canadian libraries, clear evidence that attention to intellectual freedom remains central to the work of Canadian librarians and sister association advocates across the cultural network. CLA President Keith Walker notes: "Libraries play a crucial role in the protection of intellectual freedom and have to be prepared to support the right of Canadians to read what they choose. Freedom to read can never be taken for granted."

For the full report and list, please visit the Canadian Library Association.

1st FLIF meeting of the year!

Our first FLIF meeting will be this Thursday, Sept 16th at 12:30 in Henderson Hall (in Rutherford South - if you are not a SLIS student who has a code to get into this room send me a message and I will make sure you can get in - flifblog @ gmail.com)

We will be discussing some of the projects coming up this year and specifically looking to recruit volunteers for Homeless Connect, our first big event coming up in October.

If you cannot make the meeting, don't worry! We will post here on the blog what we discuss at the meeting.  If you would like to volunteer to man the free books table at Homeless Connect on Sunday, Oct 16th for an hour or two please send us an email or leave a comment here, or you can sign up on the schedule we will post in the SLIS lounge after the meeting this Thursday.

Harper Government Censoring Canadian Scientists

Story via Slashdot, via the Vancouver Sun

This very disturbing story was printed today in the Vancouver Sun and picked up by Slashdot online:

"The Harper government has tightened the muzzle on federal scientists, going so far as to control when and what they can say about floods at the end of the last ice age. Natural Resources Canada scientists were told this spring they need 'pre-approval' from Minister Christian Paradis' office to speak with journalists. Their 'media lines' also need ministerial approval, say documents obtained by Postmedia News through access-to-information legislation. The documents say the 'new' rules went into force in March and reveal how they apply not only to contentious issues, including the oilsands, but benign subjects such as floods that occurred 13,000 years ago. They also give a glimpse of how Canadians are being cut off from scientists whose work is financed by taxpayers, critics say, and is often of significant public interest — be it about fish stocks, genetically modified crops or mercury pollution in the Athabasca River."

This kind of tight control over scientific research damages collegial relationships and cast a very poor light on the current Conservative government. Coming from a university with a heavy focus on research and contributing to larger bodies of knowledge this kind of 'government editing' seems ridiculous at best and outright censorship at worst.

GELA Prison Project - Remand Centre Wishlist

The GELA Prison Project posts wishlists for books from inmates at the Edmonton Remand Centre. FLIF would like to more actively contribute to this project in the upcoming year through book drives and fundraising to be able to purchase new books for this group. If you have any of the following materials you would like to donate to the GELA Prison Project (or would like to support this project with a monetary donation) please leave a comment here, email us at flifblog @ gmail.com, or drop off labelled donations on the bookshelf in the SLIS lounge in Rutherford South on the U of A campus.

The latest wishlist includes:

• recent non-fiction
• advanced education, career development
• self help
• human psychology
• life stories of criminals who have turned their lives around
• life stories of people with difficult childhoods who have persevered
• inspirational/religious books
• horror, spy and suspense novels
• life stories of Aboriginal people
• bestsellers
• National Geographic magazines

10 Rules for Radicals

Reposting from BoingBoing, Sunday Aug 29th 2010

This is a fantastic video of the keynote speech that archivist Carl Malamud gave at the 19th World Wide Web Consortium conference this year. He outlines ten useful (and hilarious) rules for people who want to follow in his foot steps of working to make information open and accessible. 

As Cory Doctorow of  BoingBoing writes: 

"It's all so engagingly written, and so useful, that it is truly a must-read for anyone interested in the history or future of universal access, open networks and free societies."

 I couldn't agree more, and highly (highly!) recommend following the link at the top of this page to read a copy of the speech or watch the full video embedded at the link. 

FLIF is on Twitter!

FLIF is now on Twitter - come and join the sound-bite discussion. We will be tweeting throughout orientation week, looking forward to meeting the new group of students at the orientation lunch today.

http://twitter.com/FLIF_UofA

Welcome Back Proto-Librarians!

As we get ready to begin a new semester at the University of Alberta's School of Library and Information Studies, we would like to welcome back returning students and introduce ourselves to the new cohort joining SLIS this year.

New York Public Library archives

We have a bunch of exciting projects planned for the upcoming year and are looking to recruit members who are interested in discussing issues of intellectual freedom, doing community outreach regarding access to information and promoting the school to the wider community. We would like to have a meeting early in September to introduce ourselves in person and describe some of the events and project we have planned for the Fall semester.

We will be looking for volunteers to help out with several of our continuing projects that are an excellent opportunity to get involved in the library community in Edmonton and learn more about intellectual freedom and access to information in our city. Briefly, a few of our major initiatives are:

Community Bookshelf:

This is a project that FLIF has recently assumed full responsibility for, but was initiated by and is supported by GELA (Greater Edmonton Library Association). FLIF volunteers pick up books generously donated by local libraries, book drives, and personal donors. Special thanks goes to Edmonton Public Library, Stony Plain Public Library, Leduc Public Library and the Greater Edmonton Library Association’s Women’s Prison subcommittee. FLIF members sort, package and deliver books to several organizations in Edmonton including the Bissel Centre, Boyle Street Mission, HIV Edmonton and Operation Friendship. We need volunteers to help load books at the main library and unload them on campus as well as sor books based on requests from our member organizations and deliver boxes of books to the organizations a few times each semester.

We would like to have a big book sorting party in SLIS to organize some deliveries of donations that are currently being stored on campus. This would be a great opportunity to find out more about FLIF and meet other students interested in volunteering and supporting access to information in our community. Please leave us a comment here or send an email to flifblog @ gmail.com if you are interested in participating.

Homeless Connect:

Homeless Connect is a bi-annual event that takes place at Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton in May and October each year.

Homeless Connect Edmonton is a broad-based community-inspired initiative, providing free appropriate services to homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless, on one day and at one location.
Its mission is to provide services that help open doors out of homelessness, build lasting partnerships , raise public awareness of homelessness in the community, and provide a vehicle for community involvement in addressing the issue of homelessness.
Services include mental health assessments, library services, foot care, haircuts, immunizations, birth control, pre-natal support, laundry, housing information, employment and training services and much more.

Homeless Connect

The next event will take place on Sunday October 17th, 2010 and we are looking for volunteers for one to two hour shifts throughout the day. Our role at this event is to set up a table of free books donated by EPL and to keep it stocked and organized throughout the day. This is one of our largest events during the year and is a great opportunity to reach out to the community and learn about barriers to information and services that many Edmonton citizens face. 

If you would like to volunteer for this event which runs from 10 am (set up starts at 9am) until 3pm on Sunday October 17th please let us know by leaving a comment here or sending an email to flifblog @ gmail.com

Freedom to Read Week:

Freedom to Read Week isn't until March of 2011, but it is one of the biggest events in the FLIF calendar. We set up a display of banned and challenged materials in HUB, raise funds for the GELA prison projects by selling awesome buttons, use Book Crossing to drop banned and challenged books throughout the city along with information on freedom of information, and participate in EPL events like the Banned Book Cafe. This year we would like to expand our Freedom to Read Week events and are open to suggestions from the FLIF and SLIS community. 

We always need lots of volunteers for Freedom to Read Week to make buttons, man the banned books table, represent SLIS and FLIF at EPL events and generally spread the word about how important access to information and Freedom to Read is. Mark February 20th - 26th, 2011 on your calendar now! 

FLIF is also involved with the GELA Edmonton Institution For Women library including inmate book clubs and a storybook project where women can record themselves reading aloud, and their recording is sent to their children. Additionally we hope to get involved with some new projects including working with APIRG on a library of banned and challenged books as well as getting more involved with the library at the Boyle Street Mission.

We are always open to suggestions for events or new projects that fit FLIF's mandate of supporting access to information and intellectual freedom.

If you would like to attend a FLIF meeting or get involved this year please leave a comment on this post or send us an email at flifblog @ gmail.com

We will try to pick a time that works for everyone to get together and start planning of an exciting year. 

Your FLIF co-chairs, 

Shannon & Jorden

Oil Spill (PR) Damage Control

Via Slashdot, June 8th 2010: http://search.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=10/06/08/1421205

In an attempt to limit the damage to their reputation and ostensibly to provide relevant and authoritative information on the continuing environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, BP has purchased search terms such as "oil spill" on large search engines like Google and Yahoo. This means that while other sites addressing this issue turn up in the search results, BP advertisements appear at the top of the page, directing searchers to their corporate website for information.

BP is claiming that this strategy is not morally compromising as they are using one of the most effective methods of disseminating information to help provide those affected by the spill with "accurate information, right forms and key people for contact."

The real question is how comfortable we should be with allowing large corporations harbouring their own PR agendas to be able to purchase preferential search result positions on Internet search engines. While commercial search engines are suppored by revenue generated by paid advertisements, more and more people use the Internet and mainstream search engines as their main or only source of information. The order search results are listed in has a large impact on their perceived authority and relevance and while we should all strive to be critical and conscientious media consumers, this latest attempt to control of the flow of bad press seems disingenuous.

If only BP would spend as much time working on stopping the flow of oil into the Gulf, perhaps these media control tactics would be unnecessary.

Surprise! Vancouver Does NOT Like Homeless People

Not to take away from some of the progressive initiatives Vancouver has developed for its homeless population BUT in today's Vancouver Sun:

"An ambassador with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association referred to the homeless and drug-addicted as "scum of the earth," an artist who posed as an ambassador claims.

Jamie Hilder, who was training with the ambassador, said other ambassadors would routinely pressure the homeless to move along the city streets.

Hilder was the first witness in an expected 15-day B.C. Human Rights hearing, brought by Pivot Legal Society, United Native Nations and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users against the association and the City of Vancouver for discriminating against drug addicts, the homeless and aboriginal people."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Homeless+panhandlers+referred+scum+earth+hearing+told/3096610/story.html#ixzz0pd3oQs5d

Quiet in the Library

In an impressive attempt to placate the fearmongering and elitism that has surrounded the recent spate of negative coverage about the downtown Milner library, today's Edmonton Journal published a lengthy article on what some may refer to as "problem patrons" - people who have nowhere to go in a culture of increasingly eroded public spaces. It would have been nice to see a mention of the successful and innovative Canadian initiative, The Working Together Project, but it's still refreshing to see an attempt at understanding the root causes of the issues many inner city libraries face when serving patrons from a wide spectrum of backgrounds. Punitive policies against odors and bedrolls and large bags, for instance, work against the broader library ethos of inclusion and equity of access, and promote public libraries as exclusive enclaves of an elite middle class. The Working Together Project eloquently expresses the exclusionary effects of such policies:

"The reality is that to the majority of socially-excluded people, we are a club and they do not feel welcome. Our atmosphere is oppressive, our rules and codes are alienating, and, often, we ourselves are unapproachable and/or intimidating. We require identification and proof of address for membership; we charge fines for overdue materials; we have policies about smelly patrons and behaviour that we as staff find challenging to manage; we implement policies and architecture to “protect” staff from patrons; and we use complex jargon to discuss our services. Many socially-excluded people do not feel welcome and the reality is that they are not welcome. Most of our planning processes and many of our policies and practices make this very clear to them."

Some libraries - San Francisco Public Library for example - are much more progressive and innovative in their approach, hiring a social worker who can refer patrons to shelters and agencies. While most libraries don't have the budgetary luxury to hire social workers, staff training and referrals to social service agencies can go a long way in helping those patrons who have nowhere else to go find social services that can assist them. Promoting a welcoming atmosphere is also essential, as EPL CEO Linda Cook remarked: "We would never refuse entry to someone based on how they look or the fact they don't have a home."

We do have to take issue with the tone of the Journal article at times and the somewhat hyperbolic journalistic license employed - "Nearby, a man dropped a small plastic baggie into another man's hand. In the bathroom, the needle box continued to fill" and referring to these folks as "bad apples in public spaces." If anything, these issues have been useful in illuminating how many Edmontonians have fallen through the cracks caused by the erosion of social services. To complain that these people are "taking over our library" is to overlook the fact that it's EVERYONE'S library. In the unfortunate onslaught of negative coverage concerning our downtown library, there is the bittersweet benefit that perhaps our city officials might take a closer look at the perilous effects of budget cuts in areas that affect people's lives in such overwhelming ways, and to hopefully arrive at some sort of plan to fill these gaps.

Kudos to the Journal for an insightful article that will surely open some eyes.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Quiet+library+urban+dilemma/3088935/story.html

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/lavallelinn/4400450294/, licensed by Creative Commons.

EIFW Booksale Shout Out!

Some very welcome publicity for the GELA Prison Project in yesterday's Edmonton Sun:

"A group of city librarians will spend their Mother’s Day selling stacks of books to make sure imprisoned moms are just a “play” button away for dozens of kids.

The sale — continuing on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 10706 84 Ave. — is the first time the Greater Edmonton Library Association has held a public fundraiser to support their varied projects in the Edmonton federal women’s prison.

Since 2007, the group has visited the prison regularly, offering book clubs, keeping the prison library properly stocked and running the ongoing Storybook Project.

The project offers inmates a chance to read a story to their children — some of whom they may not have seen since giving birth — while a volunteer records it.

The CD with the reading and a copy of the accompanying book is then mailed to the children."

Read more here.

Gossip Girl Books Illicit?

An act of censorship or exposing the neglect of libraries to protect children from age-inappropriate content? You know what WE think - what do you think? Read the full article here.

"Longwood parent Tina Harden was so disturbed by references to sex and drugs and foul language in the world of fictional teenager Jenny Humphrey that she is ignoring overdue notices and phone calls from her neighborhood library and its bill collector.

Harden refuses to return several books connected to the Gossip Girl series that detail Humphrey's life, even though she's had them since 2008."

"Harden said she doesn't want them banned, but she does want the library to put a warning label on the four titles..."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/seminole/os-longwood-library-gossip-girl-books20100505,0,7112288.story

Freedom to Read Memberships

What a deal!

Free memberships with the Freedom to Read Foundation for new graduates of ALA-accredited MLS and MLIS programs!

Fill out the PDF form and email or mail to:
Freedom to Read Foundation
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 280-4227 (fax)
ftrf@ala.org

A word document is available here.

Book Sale Fundraiser - May 8 and 9

Volunteer Call for Homeless Connect

It's been a while, but we're back to ask for your help!

On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Future Librarians for Intellectual Freedom (FLIF), the GELA Community Bookshelf Project, and the Edmonton Public Library will be distributing books to Edmonton's homeless community at Homeless Connect, held from 10:00 am until 3:00 p.m. at the Shaw Conference Centre. Last October's event was a great success - we gave heaps of books away, met lots of great people, and had a lot of fun. Plus, free snacks and drinks and a t-shirt for all volunteers!

There are two shifts available for 2-3 volunteers - the 9:30 am to 12:30 pm shift and the 12:30 until 3:30 shift. The duties are very basic - refill the boxes of books on the table, welcome visitors to the table, and help people find books they would like to read. Easy, rewarding, AND fun!

Contact us at flifblog @ gmail.com to volunteer or for more information.

Visit the links below to find out more about this amazing event:
http://www.homelessconnect.ca/
http://www.homelessconnect.ca/volunteer.php

Thanks!