Following up on our prior sessions on Project 2025, IFRT Reads is offering a weekly reading and discussion series in April to look at four of the themes in greater depth:
How Can Librarians Combat Anti-Immigrant Hatred?
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
3 p.m. Eastern / 2 p.m. Central Time / 1 p.m. Mountain / noon Pacific
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/y5nuugebRNSuB4I4qQPeSA
In order to combat the current wave of anti-immigrant hatred in the U.S., librarians need to know the facts about the global migration crisis and the essential contributions of immigrants to U.S. society. What can we do when vulnerable populations are being dehumanized and imprisoned in times of economic and social crisis?
Readings:
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Something Extraordinary Is Happening All Over the World (Lydia Polgreen, New York Times, January 31, 2025)
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Libraries and Immigration Enforcement (Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association)
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Migration (Social Responsibilities Round Table Pathfinder)
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Seven Famous Undocumented/DACA Immigrants (Immigrant Learning Center, 2025)
How Can Librarians Talk About Gender?
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
3 p.m. Eastern / 2 p.m. Central Time / 1 p.m. Mountain / noon Pacific
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/are_-KiAQ6-c-DvcSb292A
At a time when ten percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ+, misogyny and gender-related violence are on the rise, and terms like gender and sexual orientation are being expunged from federal government websites, it is incumbent upon librarians, as trusted sources of information and knowledge, to find creative ways to promote public discussions/conversations about gender-related issues. The ALA has provided resources that can help us with collection development and programming.
Readings:
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Open to All (Rainbow Round Table)
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Gender and Sexual Orientation (Social Responsibilities Round Table Pathfinder)
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Nearly One in 10 U.S. Adults Identifies as L.G.B.T.Q., Survey Finds (Caine Miller, Claire & Francesca Paris, New York Times, February 20, 2025)
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Why young men and women are drifting apart (The Economist, March 16, 2024)
How Can Librarians Promote Uncensored U.S. History?
Thursday, April 17, 2025
4 p.m. Eastern / 3 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Mountain / 1 p.m. Pacific
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/s616AzMYTuK4WaR51no3YQ
With the claim to Make America Great Again gaining millions of adherents in the U.S., it is important to ask whether any nation can be made great without an honest and critical evaluation of its past and present. Librarians have a crucial role to play in promoting discussions on U.S. history and allowing for critical perspectives to be heard. It is on the basis of such discussions that we can have a conscious and aware public who will not be prone to disinformation.
Readings:
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Librarian Perspectives on Misinformation: A Follow-Up and Comparative Study (Laura Saunders, College and Research Libraries, 2023)
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America Wasn't a Democracy, Until Black Americans Made It One (Nikole Hannah-Jones, New York Times, August 14, 2019).
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We Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued The 1619 Project (New York Times, 2019)
Why Is Public Education Under Assault? What Can Librarians Do to Defend Public Education?
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
3 p.m. Eastern / 2 p.m. Central Time / 1 p.m. Mountain / noon Pacific
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://ala-events.zoom.us/meeting/register/hRtnogV5R42T8RUadIkq6g
The recent executive order to abolish the Department of Education has been the latest in a series of attacks on public education in the U.S. As educators who are mostly working for public institutions, librarians directly face the consequences of these attacks. There is no doubt that there is a crisis of education in the U.S. However, without a free, public and secular system of education that promotes equal opportunity, equality, shared meaning and empathy, our society will experience increasing class inequality, hatred and violence. Let's share ideas about what we can do collectively to confront the current assault, and offer constructive solutions for a better public education system.
Readings:
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Crisis in Education: U.S. K-12 (Social Responsibilities Round Table Pathfinder)
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The Dangerous End of School Libraries and Public Education (National Education Policy Center)
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Why "Fund Students, Not Systems" Is a Recipe for Disaster (Jennifer Berkshire, The Nation, June 2024)
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Why Are We Getting Rid of the Department of Education Again? (Jennifer Berkshire, Network for Public Education. February 2025)
We hope you can join us for these discussions.
Martin Garnar
Member, IFRT Programming and Events Committee
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Martin Garnar (he/him/his)
Director, Amherst College Library
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