IFRT Members Community (Open)

 View Only
last person joined: 13 hours ago 

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.

Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

Support for commenting on OMB proposed regulation changes

  • 1.  Support for commenting on OMB proposed regulation changes

    Posted 6 hours ago
    [Apologies for cross-posting]

    As you probably already know, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released proposed regulation changes that, among (many) other things, would give political appointees complete control over federal grants, from vetting to termination at any point for any reason. Research and other activities related to DEI (i.e. non-white experiences) and gender identity are prohibited. See here, here, and here for analysis from a few of the helpful pieces of analysis out there now. These changes pose a tremendous censorship threat to research, education, and knowledge--and to the ability of libraries and librarians to support the communities they serve. 

    Because of the extreme, negative impact of these proposed changes, it's critical that as many public comments are submitted as possible by the July 13th deadline, which you can do here.  If you want to respond but need help or have questions, #DefendResearch is holding Action Hours every Tuesday from 11.00am-12.00pm ET through June 30th (register here), Stand Up For Science is holding "Rapid Response Hours" every Friday at 11am ET through July 10th (register here), and dataindex.us has their regular monthly Take Action office hours July 3rd (register here).