The Social Responsibilities Round Table works to make ALA more democratic and to establish progressive priorities not only for the Association, but also for the entire profession. Concern for human and economic rights was an important element in the founding of SRRT and remains an urgent concern today. SRRT believes that libraries and librarians must recognize and help solve social problems and inequities in order to carry out their mandate to work for the common good and bolster democracy.
Learn more about SRRT on the ALA website.
#DefendResearch continues its monthly series of conversations on research censorship in an April 8th webinar with information studies researcher Dr. George Cooper, who will share key findings from his 6-year project on the conditions of censorship complicity in scholarly publishing. This discussion will include an analysis of how political coercion and economic dependence shaped publishers' responses to censorship demands in China, as well as the widespread tendencies to diffuse, deny and redistribute responsibility to resist censorship pressures more broadly. Cooper will show how effective resistance to censorship requires broader coalitions-encompassing research funders and librarians-and sector-wide frameworks to enable collective action.