<div dir="ltr"><font face="arial, sans-serif">Hello OLA Community,<br></font><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">The IFC would like to recognize the efforts of the Crook County Staff and Library Director, April Witteveen for their efforts to uphold Intellectual Freedom and to fight for the equitable access to materials within their collections.  This fight for equality and inclusion has been a long and stressful one and we are proud of the outcome to keep the LGBTQ materials in the kids section, along with all other materials for the age group.</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="">In a 1943 Supreme Court case ruling citing the First
Amendment (West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette), Justice Robert
Jackson wrote "If there is any fixed star in our constitutional
constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall
be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of
opinion...". </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style=""><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">By rejecting the proposal to selectively create a distinction of
segregated shelving based on objections of some to a particular viewpoint or
representing a protected class, the officials of the library board upheld their
ethical, legal, and Constitutional duties. In upholding the Library Bill of Rights, the vote recognizes the under-represented and marginalized members of the community and takes a stand against  the bullying and disrimination that has been allowed to occur. The IFC would like to recognize the pain that this situation has caused the members of the LGBTQ community and are hopeful in our continued fight for equality and inclusion. </span><br></font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif">We applaud the Crook County citizens who spoke up to defend
the individual liberty and privacy threatened by the misguided proposal. And we
commend Library Director April Witteveen and the four Crook County Library
board members who voted to honor their oath of office to State and Federal
Constitutions, laws thereof, and to American values. </font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><font face="arial, sans-serif"> </font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif">



</font></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="">#LetFreedomRead. Libraries are for all.</font></span></p></div></div>