ILA’s Doyle Receives 2017 John Philip Immroth Memorial Award
March 25, 2017
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(via the American Library Association)
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) of the American Library Association (ALA) announces that Robert P. Doyle is the recipient of the 2017 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award. The Immroth Award recognizes Doyle’s defense of intellectual freedom in a library career spanning more than 30 years.
Doyle has been the editor of the ALA banned books resource guides and its supplemental field reports of banned and challenged books since 1982. Doyle served as the deputy director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom under Judith Krug’s tenure. He also served two terms as a member of the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Board of Directors and received the 2009 FTRF Roll of Honor Award.
Doyle is the executive director of the Illinois Library Association (ILA) and has defeated 18 attempts that would have mandated filtering legislation in Illinois. He tirelessly advocated for local control and built an impressive statewide infrastructure to support intellectual freedom utilizing the Intellectual Freedom Committee, Public Policy Committee and Advocacy Committee within the ILA. He also supported an annual ILA award to recognize outstanding contributions in defending intellectual freedom.
Doyle’s steadfast service exemplifies the fight against censorship and the importance of maintaining intellectual freedom. For these reasons, Robert P. Doyle is the 2017 recipient of ALA’s John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award. The award will be presented at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago at the IFRT Awards Reception and Member Social.
The Immroth Award honors the courage, dedication and contribution of a person who has set the finest kind of example for the defense and furtherance of the principles of intellectual freedom. The award consists of a citation and $500. John Phillip Immroth was a teacher, author, scholar, advocate and defender of First Amendment rights. He was the founder and first chair of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table in 1973.
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