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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.

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Save the date! Fri. 2/26 IFRT event on social justice

  • 1.  Save the date! Fri. 2/26 IFRT event on social justice

    Posted Jan 15, 2021 08:42 AM

    With apologies for cross-posting - and encouragement to share broadly!

    Mark your calendars for Friday, February 26th from 1-2:30pm central for a virtual panel discussion and listening sessions on social justice and intellectual freedom, hosted by ALA Intellectual Freedom Round Table's Education Committee. All are welcome to attend.

    Frosty Windows, Frosty Mirrors: Representation, Labeling, Discoverability, and the Chilling Effect will feature expert panelists sharing their current thinking and practice with respect to DEI efforts as they intersect with intellectual freedom values. After the panel, discuss practical challenges and solutions in break-out room listening sessions, with panelists available to respond.

    Register for Zoom access: https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkf--uqDsqG9dpvbMs1u_FTAO6bgPLNn65
    A decorative image featuring frosty windows, mirrors, and a thermometer

    Detailed event description:

    Thaw the chill between intellectual freedom and social justice in this facilitated panel followed by break-out room listening sessions. As libraries undertake important work to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging, questions arise about ethical commitments to intellectual freedom, including issues of censorship, privacy, and complicity with hate, exclusion, and exploitation. Panelists will discuss current thinking and practice on these challenging issues. After the panel, attendees will have the opportunity to share their perspectives with panelists in break-out room listening sessions. Discussion questions include:

    • Representation 
      • How should selection and collection management practices and other policies address representation and IF? 
      • How should libraries handle public art, such as murals or statuary, that misrepresents marginalized peoples or memorializes those responsible for historical harms?
      • Under what conditions should individuals or groups be restricted from using library meeting spaces and resources?
    • Labeling
      • How can we make materials and collections visible and browsable, while also striving for decentering, to avoid othering, and to preserve patron choice in privacy? 
      • How should library spaces be 'named' and labeled, and what considerations arise for development efforts?
    • Discoverability
      • How can social justice work inform resource description, cataloging, and indexing? Are existing resource description frameworks - such as the Dewey Decimal System, Library of Congress Classification, and Library of Congress Subject Headings - in conflict with DEI efforts; if so, can they be reformed, or should they be replaced? 
      • How do library assessment practices and patron analytics on library use impact patron privacy and chill free inquiry?


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    Sarah Hartman-Caverly
    Reference & Instruction Librarian
    Penn State Berks Campus Thun Library
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