NEWS
Donation for Ukrainian children
BOOK Aid International has sent more than 10,000 books to Poland to help Ukrainian children.
The donation will be administered in Poland by the The Universal Reading Foundation, based in Warsaw, and will be distributed to orphanages, libraries, day care centres and schools in Poland which are sheltering Ukrainian children. The foundation’s Chief Executive Maria Deskur said: “Thanks to the Book Aid International donation, we plan to start an extensive cooperation with refugee centres where Ukrainians stay on their way to other countries. We would love all these children to be able to get the chance to read at least one book.”
CILIP’s Jubilee congratulations
CILIP President Kate Robinson wrote to HM The Queen Elizabeth II, CILIP’s patron, to congratulate her on 70 years on the throne.
The letter thanked the Queen for her ongoing support for CILIP. It also points out that many libraries will have hosted celebrations and events during the recent 70th Jubilee Bank holiday weekend, adding: “We gratefully acknowledge your patronage of our Association…, which has enabled us to advance the cause of literacy, reading and learning through the development of professional librarianship and information science.”
Search Solutions call for speakers
ORGANISERS of this year’s Search Solutions Forum are looking for speakers and presentations, particularly from UK medical and health care library and infor- mation workers.
The event takes place on 23 November and organisers have asked for proposals from speakers covering a range of topics, including innovative approaches in IR production systems, topical issues in IR Practice and building bridges across disci- plines. For details, contact
irsg@bcs.org.uk..
12 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
Book banning battle heats up
AS MORE examples of books being banned from public libraries reach us from the USA, organisations oppos- ing the forces behind them, are getting organised on both sides of the Atlantic. The American Libraries Association (ALA) said its Office for Intellectual Freedom had tracked record numbers of challenges and removals in 2021 – the highest since it started tracking 30 years ago – prompting the launch last month of #UniteAgainstBookBans, a coalition with 25 other organisations linked to the library sector.
More recently the ALA joined forces with librarians,
booksellers, publishers and
civil liberties organisations to condemn a Virginia political candidate’s legal action to halt distribution of two books – Gender Queer and A Court of Mist and Fury. Meanwhile new laws to censor library databases and library management sys- tems have been enacted or are on the verge of being enacted in three states, and have been proposed in at least six more according to The Washington Post. On the face of it the new laws require database companies like ProQuest, Gale, EBSCO Information Services to remove and block student access to unsuitable material. However, database companies and those opposing the new laws point out that laws already exist to ensure mate- rials are age-appropriate and the real rea- son for these laws being implemented is to ban much broader categories of content. John Chrastka, the executive director of EveryLibrary, told The Washington Post that: “If somebody with an anti-gay, anti-trans agenda wants to censor, the first thing you have to be able to do is point to a law that says, well, issues of sexuality are off-limits for children… That’s what these laws do: provide levers to remove certain kinds of material.”
In the UK the threat is less immediate but Martyn Wade, Chair of CILIP’s Policy Committee – which is updating CILIP’s Statement on Intellectual Freedom, Access to Information and Censorship – gave an update in last month’s Information Pro- fessional (pp. 44-46).
He said that there were a number of threats, particularly the Government’s efforts to enforce a policy of “retain and explain” on cultural heritage organi- sations which he described as a “direct challenge to curatorial and intellectual freedom”.
He added that censorship in the UK and Europe “tends to be less political and visible, but anecdotally is not uncommon especially in schools where librarians and information professionals can just be asked to remove certain titles.” He also highlighted the threat of “self-cen-
sorship becoming a real issue – if difficult to quantify”.
Examples of this are already visible in the US, most recently in Louisiana where a library director prohibited displays for particular groups like Pride Month and Black History Month and moved contro- versial teen titles into adult sections saying: “We want to take the spotlight away from anything considered political…” CILIP launched a consultation on its policy just as church leaders cancelled a talk by gay author Simon James Green at a Catholic state school in London. The consultation to develop a new policy on intellectual freedom is now in its sec- ond phase, opening the policy out for full sector consultation. For details and to take part visit
www.cilip.org.uk/intellectualfreedom. There will also be two sessions looking at intellectual freedom at this taking place at this year’s CILIP Conference and Expo on 7 and 8 July. Book your place now at
www.cilipconference.org.uk.
Welsh funding for iPad loans
LIBRARIES in Powys are offering users free use of iPads, thanks to Wales’ Circular Economy Fund.
The fund was created to help reduce waste in all walks of life, with projects across Wales able to bid for money. Powys libraries was successful in its bid, which will make it possible for library users to borrow an internet-ready iPad for up to
four weeks at a time. Each device comes with a sim card, enabling those without wifi at home to get online. Tilly Boscott, Digital Senior Library Assistant, said “Lack of digital access can lead to isolation and can be a barrier to accessing services and information. It feels amazing to be able to provide this technology to anyone who needs it.”
June 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
