Committee Spotlight: Intellectual Freedom Committee
December 11, 2024
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Intellectual Freedom, the patron’s right to seek and access the materials and ideas of their choice, is a core value of our profession and touches every aspect of the work we do. But in the last four years it has come under serious threat. We are seeing an unprecedented rise in anti-library legislation, attempts to ban books, and even threats to library staff and patrons. The work of the ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) is more important than ever.
And we have been hard at work. IFC collaborated with partners to develop the Regional Response Team, providing rapid support to librarians and community members facing book challenges or other threats to Intellectual Freedom. We assisted in the vetting for ALA’s Book Resumes and developed our own “fact sheets” for frequently challenged books, which include even more information to aid in the defense of an individual title. We regularly present on the current state of Intellectual Freedom and best practices to public, academic and school libraries, community groups, and at conferences.
Continuing to support these efforts and updating our resource guide remain our top priorities for the year. In addition, we will host meet-ups for librarians to talk frankly about what they are seeing at their libraries, especially in the form of passive or self-censorship. But we also hope to work on legal training for librarians and make Intellectual Freedom training more accessible across the state.
There are so many ways you can join us in supporting Intellectual Freedom in Illinois. Sign up as a Regional Response Team volunteer to stay up to date on challenges in your area. Attend our upcoming IFC meet-ups and future ILA Library Legislative Meetups. And finally, join IFC!
This spotlight was written by the ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee Chair Elizabeth Lynch. Lynch is the head of teen services at the Addison Public Library.
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