The ALA Social Responsibilities Round Tables (SRRT) is accepting proposals for a free virtual Afternoon of Social Justice event, with "Library labor and unionization" as one of the topics for which they are soliciting presentation proposals
“The American Library Association (ALA) strongly opposes the proposed Georgia legislation that would prohibit the expenditure of public funds and private donations on services, materials, or operations provided by ALA.”
My wife couldn't sleep last night because she's a middle school librarian and our state legislature is pushing through book ban bills that are, frankly, authoritarian.
The new laws will allow: a member of the state legislature to unilaterally pull books off the shelves in their area; a book to be banned statewide if only three school (out of ~40) districts ban it; the fining and/or jailing of teachers for having "objectively sensitive" materials.
'Gen Z and Millennials are using public libraries, both in person and digitally, at higher rates compared to older generations, according to a new report released today by the American Library Association (ALA).'
"The last time that state chapters withdrew from the @alalibrary, according to the organization, was during the Jim Crow era after the national office said it would not host events in segregated states."
"If #libraries are dangerous, radical, woke, communist, child-corrupting outfits, as they clearly are, then a library that associates with other libraries in an #ALA association of some sort must be associated with some sort of dangerous radical, woke, communist, child-corrupting wrongthink, and must be stopped!"
Take a moment to read or re-read it & add your signature. (I just did.)
Libraries & publishers have their quarrels (& I take part in them). But this statement is a reminder that we share many interests & have a common enemy. Remember that 1953 was the height of the #McCarthyEra, which we see reviving all around us.
Public and school #libraries are only eligible for state funding if they “adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights” or “develop a written statement prohibiting the practice of banning books or other materials within the library or library system.“