Freedom To Read Statement
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Freedom To Read Statement
The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) is an American non-profit anti-censorship organization, established in 1969 by the American Library Association.Samek, Toni (2007). Librarianship and Human Rights: a twenty-first century guide. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Limited. p. 69. . The organization has been active in First Amendment-based challenges to book removals from libraries, and in anti-surveillance work. In addition to its legal work, the FTRF engages in advocacy and public awareness, such as its sponsorship of the annual celebration of "Banned Books Week". History The FTRF was established in 1969 by members of the American Library Association, including Judith Krug, Alexander Allain, and Carrie C Robinson. The organization was founded as "the American Library Association's response to its members' interest in having adequate means to support and defend librarians whose positions are jeopardized because of their resistance to abridgments of the First Amendment; and to set leg ...
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American Library Association
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members as of 2021. History During the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, 103 librarians, 90 men and 13 women, responded to a call for a "Convention of Librarians" to be held October 4–6 at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. At the end of the meeting, according to Ed Holley in his essay "ALA at 100", "the register was passed around for all to sign who wished to become charter members," making October 6, 1876, the date of the ALA’s founding. Among the 103 librarians in attendance were Justin Winsor (Boston Public, Harvard), William Frederick Poole (Chicago Public, Newberry), Charles Ammi Cutter (Boston Athenaeum), Melvil Dewey, and Richard Rogers Bowker. Attendees came from as far west as Chicago and from England. The ALA wa ...
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Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Held during the last full week of September since 1982, the United States campaign "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them" and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival. History Banned Books Week was founded in 1982 by First Amendment and library activist Judith Krug. Krug said that the Association of American Publishers contacted her with idea ...
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Judith Krug
Judith Fingeret Krug (March 15, 1940 – April 11, 2009) was an American librarian, freedom of speech proponent, and critic of censorship. Krug became director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association in 1967. In 1969, she joined the Freedom to Read Foundation as its executive director. Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982. She coordinated the effort against the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which was the first attempt by the United States Congress to introduce a form of censorship of speech on the Internet. Krug strongly opposed the notion that libraries should censor the material that they provide to patrons. She supported laws and policies protecting the confidentiality of library use records. When the United States Department of Justice used the authority of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 to conduct searches of what once were confidential library databases, Krug raised a public outcry against this activity by the government. In ...
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Alexander Allain
Alexander Peter Allain (June 27, 1920 – January 5, 1994) was a lawyer and library advocate known for his work securing the freedom of expression."In memoriam: Alexander Peter Allain 1920-1994", ''Louisiana Libraries'', Winter 2006, 4. His career was devoted to securing First Amendment rights for libraries. Allain is recognized as one of ''American Libraries “100 of the Most Important Leaders we had in the 20th Century” for being “a true visionary” in his battle to uphold the First Amendment; his work with the American Library Association (ALA) included helping with the creation of the Office for Intellectual Freedom in 1967 and cofounding the Freedom to Read Foundation.Kniffel, L., Sullivan, P., & McCormick, E. (December 1999). "100 of the most important leaders we had in the 20th century", ''American Libraries'', 39. Early life Born in Louisiana, as a young man, Allain served as a liaison officer in the French Navy during World War II, stationed in Casablanca. After ...
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Carrie C Robinson
Carrie Coleman Robinson (April 21, 1906 - May 25, 2008) was an African American educator and librarian. Robinson was a founding trustee of the Freedom to Read Foundation and a founder of the Alabama Association of School Librarians. Biography Robinson was born in Madison County, Mississippi in 1906. Early life and education Robinson graduated from Tougaloo College in 1931. She then attended library school at Hampton Institute. In 1948, she was denied admission to University of Alabama to take library science classes because she was Black. She enrolled at the University of Illinois in the master's degree program instead. She pursued a doctorate from Illinois in 1953, but left her position after family problems and a doctoral advisor who insisted she focus her dissertation on a white school program. Early career From 1932 to 1946, Robinson worked at various colleges as head librarian in Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Georgia. In 1946, She was hired ...
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First Amendment To The United States Constitution
The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was proposed to assuage Anti-Federalist opposition to Constitutional ratification. Initially, the First Amendment applied only to laws enacted by the Congress, and many of its provisions were interpreted more narrowly than they are today. Beginning with ''Gitlow v. New York'' (1925), the Supreme Court applied the First Amendment to states—a process known as incorporation—through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In '' Everson v. Board of Education'' (1947), the Court drew on Thomas ...
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Book Censorship In The United States
Book censorship is the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material – of images, ideas, and information – on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable according to the standards applied by the censor. Censorship is "the regulation of speech and other forms of expression by an entrenched authority".Miller, Cynthia J. "Censorship." ''Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices'', edited by Chapman, Roger and James Ciment, Routledge, 2013. The overall intent of censorship, in any form, is to act as "a kind of safeguard for society, typically to protect norms and values ..censorship suppresses what is considered objectionable from a political, moral, or religious standpoint." The Marshall University Libraries, which conduct research on banned books in the United States, have defined a banned book as one that has been "removed from a library, classroom, etc." and a challenged book ...
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List Of Most Commonly Challenged Books In The United States
This list of the most commonly challenged books in the United States refers to books sought to be removed or otherwise restricted from public access, typically from a library or a school curriculum. This list is primarily based on U.S. data gathered by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), which gathers data from media reports, and from reports from librarians and teachers. As of 2020, the top ten reasons books were challenged and banned books included sexual content (92.5% percent of books on the list); offensive language (61.5%); unsuited to age group (49%); religious viewpoint (26%); LGBTQIA+ content (23.5%); violence (19%); racism (16.5%); drugs, alcohol, and smoking (12.5%); "anti-family" content (7%); and political viewpoint (6.5%). List Since 2001, the American Library Association has posed the top ten most frequently challenged books per year on their website. Using thRadcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century ALA h ...
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Uprise Books Project
Uprise Books Project is a non-profit organization in the United States that provides banned books to underprivileged teenagers. It was founded in 2011. It is based in Vancouver, Washington. In November 2011, the organization raised USD $10,000 from a Kickstarter campaign. In May 2013, the Uprise Books Project was selected as one of the National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...'s Innovations in Reading Prize winners. External links Official site References Book censorship in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Washington (state) Kickstarter projects {{US-org-stub ...
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Organizations Established In 1969
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from the Greek word ''organon'', which means tool or instrument, musical instrument, and organ. Types There are a variety of legal types of organizations, including corporations, governments, non-governmental organizations, political organizations, international organizations, armed forces, charities, not-for-profit corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, and educational institutions, etc. A hybrid organization is a body that operates in both the public sector and the private sector simultaneously, fulfilling public duties and developing commercial market activities. A voluntary association is an organization consisting of volunteers. Such organizations may be able to operate without legal formalities, depending on jurisdiction, includin ...
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Freedom Of Expression Organizations
Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself their own laws", and with having rights and the civil liberties with which to exercise them without undue interference by the state. Frequently discussed kinds of political freedom include freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom of choice, and freedom of speech. In one definition, something is "free" if it can change easily and is not constrained in its present state. In philosophy and religion, freedom is sometimes associated with free will, without undue or unjust constraints on that will, such as enslavement. It is an idea closely tied with the concept of negative liberty. Charles Taylor resolves one of the issues that separate "positive" and "negative" theories of freedom, as these were initially distinguished in ...
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Privacy Organizations
Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of appropriate use and protection of information. Privacy may also take the form of bodily integrity. The right not to be subjected to unsanctioned invasions of privacy by the government, corporations, or individuals is part of many countries' privacy laws, and in some cases, constitutions. The concept of universal individual privacy is a modern concept primarily associated with Western culture, particularly British and North American, and remained virtually unknown in some cultures until recent times. Now, most cultures recognize the ability of individuals to withhold certain parts of personal information from wider society. With the rise of technology, the debate regarding privacy has shifted from a bodily sense to a digital sense. As ...
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