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The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs, and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians.

The IFRT Members Community group is the central hub for discussion, library and events. It is visible to all ALA members but only IFRT members can participate in the conversation.

  • 1.  IFRT Councilor's Report from Council II

    Posted Jun 28, 2021 04:46 PM
    Hi folks,
    Here are my notes from Council II.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

    Council II

    One hour after the end of Council I (which was not quite enough time to answer all my work emails that piled up during the meeting), Council II began. After the usual start-of-meeting logistical discussions (including establishing a quorum and approving the agenda as amended to include the resolution left over from Council I), we heard the report of Executive Board actions since the 2021 Midwinter Meeting as well as the implementation report of Council action items from that same meeting. From the Executive Board actions, one item of note is the selection of locations for future LibLearnX conferences: Orlando, FL (2024); Phoenix, AZ (2025); and Washington, DC/National Harbor (2026). The implementation report noted that Council's new Committee on Sustainability has been appointed and that the working group on intellectual freedom and social justice has been formally appointed by the Executive Board with myself and Valerie Bell (chair, Committee on Diversity) as co-chairs.

    The next agenda item was supposed to be continued discussion of the Forward Together Resolutions Working Group action items, but since the motion to refer most of those action items passed in Council I, we moved to the Forward Together resolution on round tables (item #2 on page 4) and approved it (154 yes, 4 no, 0 abstain) after some discussion. During the discussion, a proposed amendment to clarify language was ruled to be unnecessary by the presiding office, and other questions about how detailed the language should be will be addressed by the next round of resolution writing for Forward Together-related changes. Our bylaws will need to be updated as a result of this resolution, but those actions are being coordinated by (wait for it) the Round Table Coordinating Assembly, so stay tuned.

    Next we heard the report from the Committee on Organization, which included five action items:

    1. Expand the Policy Monitoring Committee membership: passed (158 yes, 1 no, 1 abstain)
    2. Expand the Council Orientation Committee membership: passed (159 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain)
    3. Create the ALA Code of Conduct Committee: passed (156 yes, 4 no, 1 abstain)
    4. Disband the Committee on Membership Meetings [task completed, ongoing responsibilities addressed in #5 below]: passed (157 yes, 3 no, 0 abstain)
    5. Change the charge of the Membership Committee to reflect new responsibilities [see #4 above]: passed (157 yes, 0 no, 2 abstain)

    We then considered the Resolution to Achieve Carbon Neutrality for ALA Conferences and approved it (145 yes, 9 no, 4 abstain) after some discussion to ensure that divisions were also included and to understand the financial implications (e.g., if this had been in place for Midwinter 2020, ALA would have spent an additional $27K for carbon offsets, as only a fraction of these costs are covered through voluntary donations by members that are solicited at the time of conference registration. Council II was then adjourned a few minutes early.

    Martin Garnar
    IFRT Councilor



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    Martin Garnar (he/him/his)
    Director, Amherst College Library
    Chair, ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee
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  • 2.  RE: IFRT Councilor's Report from Council II

    Posted Jun 28, 2021 05:02 PM

    One advantage of watching Council from home is  all of the snarky comments I can yell at my computer.  Thanks Martin for taking one for the team.  


    Wanda Mae Huffaker, Librarian
    The County Library | Tyler
    whuffaker@slcolibrary.org
    801-842-9178