What is the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee? 

In a recent ALSC blog post, we got to know Eric Stroshane, ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom Assistant Director for Member Services. If you’d like to know more about censorship and the resources available if your library is facing a book challenge, it’s certainly worth checking out. 

But what is Intellectual Freedom, and why does ALSC have its own Intellectual Freedom Committee? 

Here’s the definition of Intellectual Freedom, according to ALA: 

Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. 

The charge of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee is as follows: 

To serve as a liaison between the division and the ALA Intellectual Freedom committee and all other groups within the association concerned with intellectual freedom. To advise the division on matters before the office for intellectual freedom and their implication for library service to children and to make recommendations to the ALA Intellectual Freedom committee for changes in policies involving library service to children. To promote in-service and continuing education programs in the area of intellectual freedom for those who select library materials for children. 

To meet our goals, the ALSC IFC committee contributes monthly blog posts on topics related to intellectual freedom, compiles and creates resources for ALSC members, and has hosted a We Are ALSC Chat. A new committee year is starting soon. Though the IFC committee has been selected, our meetings are open to all ALSC members. If you would like to attend, keep an eye on ALA Connect for meeting dates and times. 

Today’s blog post was written by Joanna Goldfarb, Sustainability Innovation Consultant at the Ramapo Catskill Library System on behalf of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee.  She can be reached at jgoldfarb@rcls.org.  

This post addresses the core competencies of II. Reference and User Services and V. Outreach and Advocacy. 

The post What is the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee?  appeared first on ALSC Blog.

 In a recent ALSC blog post, we got to know Eric Stroshane, ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom Assistant Director for Member Services. If you’d like to know more about censorship and the resources available if your library is facing a book challenge, it’s certainly worth checking out.  But what is Intellectual Freedom, and why does ALSC have its own Intellectual Freedom Committee?  Here’s the definition of Intellectual Freedom, according to ALA:  Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.  The charge of the ALSC Intellectual Freedom Committee is as follows:  To serve as a liaison between the division and the ALA Intellectual Freedom committee and all other groups within the association concerned…
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