2009 ProQuest/SIRS State and Regional Intellectual Freedom Award – Call for Nominations

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.

Examples of eligible programs include a statewide public relations initiative to promote awareness of intellectual freedom, programmatic assistance to meet a broad-based censorship challenge, coalition building or education outreach efforts, or effective reorganization or management of an intellectual freedom committee.

State libraries or library associations, educational media associations or programs, legal defense funds, intellectual freedom committees or coalitions and related parties are eligible for nomination by themselves or others.

The Illinois Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee won last year’s award for its two-pronged approach to defending intellectual freedom—advocacy in the Illinois General Assembly and U.S. Congress as well as education within the library community and general public. A link to the list of other past winners—

http://tinyurl.com/qzape

Deadline for nominations is December 1, 2008.

To view a full description of the award criteria and to access a nomination form, please go to
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/ifrt/awards/SIRS_ProQuest_Award/sirs.cfm.

Help recognize the courageous efforts of our profession! Thank you.

Paul Beavers
Chair of the ProQuest/SIRS Award Committee
paul.beavers@wayne.edu