It's not too late to register for tomorrow's IFRT Reads follow-up on Project 2025, which will start at 1 p.m. Eastern / Noon Central / 11 a.m. Mountain / 10 a.m. Pacific. You'll be given the option to join one of four breakout sessions to discuss one of these questions:
- Project 2025 takes funds away from public education and uses them for private and religious education. How should librarians respond when the U.S. Constitution is based on the separation of religion and state?
- What kind of parental rights should we support in libraries? What kind of students' rights? How do we make uncensored accounts of U.S. history available to students of all ages?
- Project 2025 bans the use of terms such as gender identity, sexual orientation and reproductive rights. It defines discussion of transgender issues as pornography. We've already seen an executive order on this topic. How can librarians respond?
- What are our responsibilities as librarians/educators/promoters of democracy and pluralism in a highly polarized society in which the new administration is promoting mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and threatens to prosecute and imprison critics? How can we protect the rights of libraries and users?
We have more than 100 people signed up, but would love to have you join us. As is our custom, we will not be recording this so that attendees can speak freely, so if you're not able to make it, we'll hope that you're able to attend a future IFRT Reads event.
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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Original Message:
Sent: Jan 23, 2025 03:57 PM
From: Martin Garnar
Subject: IFRT Reads: Project 2025 Follow-up
Last December, we read several articles about the impact of Project 2025 on libraries, and began discussing ways in which librarians can respond. We invite you to a follow up discussion on Tuesday, February 4th at 1 p.m. Eastern / Noon Central / 11 a.m. Mountain / 10 a.m. Pacific to address these questions:
- Project 2025 takes funds away from public education and uses them for private and religious education. How should librarians respond when the U.S. Constitution is based on the separation of religion and state?
- What kind of parental rights should we support in libraries? What kind of students' rights? How do we make uncensored accounts of U.S. history available to students of all ages?
- Project 2025 bans the use of terms such as gender identity, sexual orientation and reproductive rights. It defines discussion of transgender issues as pornography. We've already seen an executive order on this topic. How can librarians respond?
- What are our responsibilities as librarians/educators/promoters of democracy and pluralism in a highly polarized society in which the new administration is promoting mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and threatens to prosecute and imprison critics? How can we protect the rights of libraries and users?
You'll be asked to select one question to discuss in a small group, then we'll reconvene to share our collective insights (and for folks who don't like breakout rooms, this is your warning that they will be used). Please register for the event using this link. Hope you can join us!
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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