chmara-file

June 29, 2025 465 × 310 The Case for Intellectual Freedom

Theresa Chmara, general counsel of the American Library Association’s Freedom to Read Foundation, at LibLearnX in January 2020. Photo: Rebecca Lomax/American Libraries

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Jill Replogle writes: “Last year, the virtual book club at the Huntington Beach (Calif.) Public Library voted to discuss the The Guncle during its May 2025 meeting. A month before the book club meeting, library staff were told to remove the book from the club’s discussion calendar, according to several sources. It’s one of several indications, they say, of what’s sometimes called ‘soft’ or ‘quiet’ censorship. The incident is an indication that the book battles in this conservative beach town are far from over—despite a special election in June in which voters rebuked the City Council’s conservative agenda for the library.”

LAist, July 21, June 11
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Lucy Podmore writes: “High School Voter Registration Week will be celebrated nationally this year the week of September 23–27, a date close enough to fit with our Freedom to Read Week [an alternative approach to Banned Books Week from October 5–11] activities. Where I live, it is state law that public high schools offer two opportunities for students to register to vote, so this opportunity helps me fulfill this requirement. We have always hosted voter registration drives on my campus, but this year I am providing an opportunity for my students to lead these drives.”

Knowledge Quest, July 24
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Daniel Pfeiffer writes: “It has been a brutal summer for artificial intelligence (AI) news and commentary. Though I have deep reservations about the trajectory we’re on, I do at least feel good about the work that librarians are undertaking in this field, such as organizing communities of practice, incorporating AI into information literacy instruction, and finding thoughtful uses of it. Such applications underscore that librarians have an important role in shepherding this technology, and we need more AI-literate librarians to enter these conversations and decisionmaking processes.” Pfeiffer recommends new reports and research to help librarians gain that literacy.

Choice 360: LibTech Insights, July 28, July 14, July 7, June 9
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Rachel McRady writes: “Dan Pelzer read more than 5,000 books throughout the course of his life, including one classic he called ‘pure torture.’ Pelzer, who died on July 1 at the age of 92, left his friends and family a 109-page handwritten list of all the books he’s read since 1962. Pelzer’s family scanned the list and created a website sharing his reads, What Dan Read. In a post shared on the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Facebook page, Pelzer’s daughter, Marci, wrote, ‘ALL of his books were Columbus Metropolitan Library books. Nobody loved the library more than Dan.’”

People, July 22; Columbus Metropolitan Library, July 21
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Greg Landgraf writes: “Libraries are having a Hollywood moment, as several documentarians have recently turned their lenses towards libraries, librarians, and intellectual freedom issues. Some of these films made their mark at the recent ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, on PBS, at the Sundance Film Festival, and even at the Oscars, where The ABCs of Book Banning was nominated last year for Best Documentary Short Film. Below you can read about some favorites (and find out how to watch them).”

American Libraries Online, July 28
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ALA has launched the ALA Learning Library, a member-exclusive collection of free professional development resources. Introduced at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference, the ALA Learning Library will help members easily access a large and growing of eLearning events that are only available to them. In addition to demonstrating the value of membership to current members, the new library also helps promote membership to nonmembers who want to take advantage of the professional development offerings.

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, July 23
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Sam Helmick writes: “As library professionals, we often traffic in the timeless—in books, archives, and community memory. But this year’s ALA Annual Conference reminded us that timing matters, too. At a moment when the core tenets of librarianship—intellectual freedom, the right to read, equitable access to information—are under direct attack across the country, gathering in Philadelphia felt as much like a profound act of civic engagement as it did impactful professional development. There was an unmistakable sense that showing up mattered.”

American Libraries column, July/Aug.

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