If you will be attending ALA Annual in Chicago, the following panel will be of interest to many history librarians. The program is sponsored by the RUSA History Section. Check out other RUSA HS ALA events as well.
The Freedom of Information Act: Requests to Redactions
When: Saturday, June 24, 2023 from 2:30-3:30 PM
Location: McCormick Place, W178b
Panelists: Louis Carlile, Library Director, North Chicago Public Library and Jessica Hartman, FOIA Mediator, National Archives and Records Administration
Description: What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? Who makes FOIA requests? What role should librarians as information professionals have in facilitating them? This panel will answer these questions from two distinct vantage points- that of the federal FOIA landscape and the public librarians who are sometimes asked to navigate it. First, it will examine FOIA requests within public libraries and public librarians' paradoxical role of facilitator–and at times the recipient–of requests. Attendees will then hear a presentation from staff at the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the federal FOIA ombudsman's office which is part of the National Archives and Records Administration. By examining the relationship between Freedom of Information Act requests and libraries, this panel hopes to demystify the requesting process and make FOIA more accessible to librarians and their patrons.
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Rebecca Lloyd
History Librarians Interest Group Past Convener
Research & Instruction Librarian
Temple University
She/Her/Hers
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