BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6f447e6b8f673898c0bcc70dc8f019fb163 CATEGORIES:MLA Connect Advocacy Hour SUMMARY:MLA Connect Advocacy Hour: Intellectual Freedom: When the Challenges are Truly Political DESCRIPTION:
March 17, 2022
10:00 - 11:00 AM
On Thu rsday, March 17 we are pleased to partner with the Michigan Association for Media in Education (MAME) to welcome John Chrastka, founder of EveryLibrar y for an MLA Connect Advocacy Hour about censorship and responding to book- banning. There are two sessions to choose from: join us live at 10:00 AM or join the afternoon replay (with live Q & A with John) at 4:30 PM! Use the links below to register!
When a book or materials challenge is ma de in good faith by people with legitimate interests in the outcome, then h owever difficult it is to follow policies and hold a dialog with your commu nity, there will be an outcome that is in line with the First Amendment and your library's values.
However, there is an entirely different clas s of book bans that are political, politicized, and performative which must be understood in order to be properly engaged. Many times, these challenge s use books to attack the library's funding, its staff, or even its existen ce as a community anchor. Other times, performative and politicized challen ges seek to attack or negate the people the books represent.
In orde r to face these unusual types of challenges, library leaders need to see th at they are more expansive than previous intellectual freedom fights and to be prepared to engage them on multiple fronts at once.
Join us for a discussion with EveryLibrary executive director John Chrastka about ways to anticipate and answer highly politicized challenges with integrity to yo ur mission and compassion for the people your library serves.
Please note recordings of all MLA Advocacy Hours are available to watch for free and on-demand on our website at milibraries.org/m la-connect-archives
EveryLibrary’s founder is John Chrastka, a long-time lib rary trustee, supporter, and advocate. Mr. Chrastka is a former partner in AssociaDirect, a Chicago-based consultancy focused on supporting associatio ns in membership recruitment, conference, and governance activities. He is a former president and member of the Board of Trustees for the Berwyn (IL) Public Library (2006 – 2015) and is a former president of the Reaching Acro ss Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) multi-type library system. Prior to hi s work at AssociaDirect, he was Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association (ALA). He was named a 2014 Mover & Shaker by Library Journal.