MONTPELIER-“ The First Amendment is being asked to do more as technology transforms the way thoughts and beliefs are expressed, and free speech lines are questioned.
“Thought and Expression in a Changing World” is the topic of a day-long conference Monday, June 29 in South Burlington sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont.
Speakers will include Catherine Crump, an attorney with the National ACLU’s First Amendment Working Group, and Dan Barrett, staff attorney at the ACLU-VT. Other Vermont attorneys will participate on panels discussing specific cases and incidents, including recent controversies involving broadcast of the Al Jazeera-English channel on a local cable TV system and images placed on locally manufactured snowboards.
New Curriculum Gives Students the Facts About Their Digital Rights and Responsibilities
San Francisco – As the entertainment industry promotes its new anti-copying educational program to the nation’s teachers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched its own “Teaching Copyright” curriculum and website to help educators give students the real story about their digital rights and responsibilities on the Internet and beyond.
I am pleased to announce that the Department of Libraries has successfully negotiated a new contract with Movie Licensing USA for Vermont public libraries. This license will permit the FREE public performance of movies (from selected Hollywood studios) in public library buildings. This new contract covers the period of June 1, 2009 – May 31, 2010.
I’ve struggled for words to describe Judith Krug’s influence on my life since her death April 11, 2009. I dare not aspire to do her legacy justice when so many others have paid tribute so eloquently. See: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/rememberingjudith.cfm
I attended her service driven by a desperate need to be among those who recognized how extraordinary Judith was, and felt the magnitude of her loss, not only personally, but for the country and the world. The tightly woven fabric of her family and their generosity of sprit was awe inspiring. I am forever grateful that they shared so much of her with us.
I sat surrounded by my family, not by blood, but a bond of love, common purpose and respect that Judith knowingly propagated, then carefully cultivated and nurtured. Her boundless love and compassion will carry us through these rapids of sorrow and grief. We will carry on and carry the flame. Thank you dear Judith, my hero, my mentor, my friend and most cherished- my surrogate mom.
Gail Weymouth  Sherburne Memorial Library  Killington
VLA IFC /ALAIFC
Posted
on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 10:21 pm in the ALA, IFC, Uncategorized category.
The Office for Intellectual Freedom has released our list of the Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2008. The list is available below and on the OIF website and you can find more information in the ALA press release about the 2008 list.
The children’s book, “And Tango Makes Three,” by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, remains at the top of the list for the third year in a row. “Tango” still faces frequent challenges for reasons that include religious viewpoint, homosexuality, and age appropriateness.
OIF received a total of 513 challenges in 2008, up from 420 total challenges in 2007. For every challenge reported to OIF, however, we estimate that there are 4 or 5 challenges that go unreported.
“Tango” tops challenged books list for third consecutive year
Judith Flint, Amy Grasmick, and Christine Lesinski of the Kimball Public Library, in Randolph, Vermont, are the recipients of the ALA Paul Howard Award for Courage.
This is a reminder to ask your U.S. House Representatives Judiciary Committee Members to oppose H.R. 801 – The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act!!! Please check out the information at http://capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=12715186 and call your Representative immediately!
Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigations.
The legislation, which echoes a measure proposed by one of their Democratic colleagues three years ago, would impose unprecedented data retention requirements on a broad swath of Internet access providers and is certain to draw fire from businesses and privacy advocates.
"OIF Seeks Reports of Book Challenges in 2008"
http://blogs.ala.org/oif.php?p=2980&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
With the end of the year approaching, the Office for Intellectual
Freedom will be compiling our yearly list of most frequently challenged
books. We collect information for our challenge database from newspapers
and reports submitted by individuals and, while we know that many
challenges are never reported, we strive to be as comprehensive as
possible in our records. We would greatly appreciate if you could send
us any information on challenges in your library or school from 2008.
Posted
on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 11:54 am in the ALA, IFC category.
Nominate a defender of intellectual freedom for a prestigious award!
The ProQuest/SIRS State and Regional Intellectual Freedom Achievement Award is given to the most innovative and effective intellectual freedom project covering a state or region.
The award is sponsored by ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Roundtable and ProQuest and consists of a citation and $1,000.
Programs may be one-time, one-year or ongoing/multi-year efforts.
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