<div dir="ltr"><div><span id="gmail-docs-internal-guid-2a9ed9a9-4a33-d6fb-8680-0c9c9dc3dbc7"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">September 2016 Tuesday Topic: Celebrate the Freedom to Read</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Welcome back to Tuesday Topics, a monthly series covering topics with intellectual freedom implications for libraries of all types.  Each message is prepared by a member of Oregon Library Association’s </span><a href="http://www.olaweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=523:intellectual-freedom-about-us&catid=20:site-content" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Intellectual Freedom Committee</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Questions can be directed to the committee member who sent the message or to one of the committee co-chairs.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">===</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Banned books.</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Does anyone even talk about those anymore? The answer to that, as evidenced by regular challenges to items in school libraries and last month’s dispute between the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Shakespeare Books & Antiques, is yes.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uRK5Be5Y8YC8OrrBvrRSWNkJzbIiuymj7RbUhwixMjh-UK8dDW0q_hvEl0Z9YFf1bUfWZyGR1RekZ-h_VlNT3o-jKkP7cWjx4MmBRXeVPAfFe7Q4lUGMMZiuCzC7gRohtFzrnzvh" width="402" height="134" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);"></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Celebrate the freedom to read in Oregon</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> during next weeks’ Banned Books Week (September 25 - October 1) along with libraries, bookstores, and schools across the United States. This annual celebration is an opportunity for libraries to start conversations about why it is important to have materials available representing all points of view and why free speech is necessary for a healthy democracy. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Here are some ways that you can take part.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Learn </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">- Review and be inspired by the American Library Association’s </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Library Bill of Rights</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">, and then visit the ALA’s </span><a href="http://www.ala.org/bbooks/bannedbooksweek" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Banned Books Week</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> website to learn more about frequently challenged titles and to get ideas and resources for your library. For an Oregon focus, visit the </span><a href="https://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/Pages/projects/OIFC/index.aspx" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> to see reports on books that have been challenged at libraries in this state. The </span><a href="http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">BannedBooksWeek.org</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> website is focusing on diversity and the fact that “it is estimated that over half of all banned books are by authors of color, or contain events and issues concerning diverse communities.”</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Share </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">- Visit the </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/OregonReadsBannedBooks" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Celebrate the Freedom to Read in Oregon</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Facebook page and share your library’s events (and photos!)</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Explore </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">- Spend some time wandering through a unique database of library materials challenges in Oregon, </span><a href="http://commons.pacificu.edu/iforegon/" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Intellectual Freedom Issues in Oregon: A News Database</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. This historical database might give you some interesting community history to share with your library users, or it could be a good source for a student researcher looking at censorship issues over time. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Prepare</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> - Prepare to have conversations with library patrons sparked by Banned Books Week or the Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Shakespeare Books & Antiques controversy. People are often surprised that there are still challenges to library materials and that it is still important (even with the Internet) for the library to make a full range of ideas and expression available to the public. Patrons may have questions about the intersection of a right to read with a responsibility to not be offensive. There aren’t easy answers, but these conversations are the main reason for celebrating Banned Books Week, and they help build support for free speech in your library community.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">You can also use this week as a reminder to prepare for the day when someone walks into your library with a concern about a particular title that is on the shelf.</span></p><ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Does your library have a materials reconsideration policy and form? </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Do all library personnel know the procedure for responding to challenges?</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Are your public officials and institutional leaders aware that there is a procedure to be followed? </span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you are in a school library, are your school and district administrators aware of the process for responding to a request for reconsideration?</span></p></li></ul><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you need help with policies, procedures and forms, visit the</span><a href="http://www.olaweb.org/intellectual-freedom-toolkit" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> Intellectual Freedom Toolkit</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> on the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee website. Help can also be found at the </span><a href="https://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/Pages/projects/OIFC/index.aspx" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Oregon Intellectual Freedom Clearinghouse</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. </span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you have more questions, contact Ross Betzer or Krista Reynolds, co-chairs of the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee and, with the help of the rest of our committee members, we will find answers for you. In the event of a challenge, we are always ready to help.</span></p><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Read freely!</span></font></span><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;font-size:x-small"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Ross Betzer</span></div><div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;font-size:x-small"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Co-chair, Oregon Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee</span></div><div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;font-size:x-small"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;border-collapse:collapse">Information Services Librarian, </span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">Multnomah County Library</span></div><div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:arial;font-size:x-small"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px">503.988.5728</span><br></div><div style="color:rgb(51,51,51)"><span style="font-size:13px"><a href="mailto:rossbk@multco.us" target="_blank">rossbk@multco.us</a></span></div></div></div></div>
</div>