WikiLeaks Earns Spot on Midwinter Agenda

December 8, 2010

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels notified the Association’s governing Council today the decision by the Library of Congress and other government agencies to block online access to the WikiLeaks website will be added to the Midwinter Meeting discussion agenda in San Diego in January. Here is his message to Council in full:

The Committee on Legislation (COL) and the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) are reviewing the issues associated with WikiLeaks’ ongoing disclosure of large numbers of classified United States government documents, including the decision by the Library of Congress and other government agencies to block online access to the WikiLeaks website. We know that many ALA members and units, in addition to Council, are following these events and wish to be involved in discussions about these issues at Midwinter.

WikiLeaks raises many policy issues including, but not limited to, access to government information, censorship and the blocking of websites, government secrecy and the over-classification of government information, treatment of whistleblowers, government transparency, and the legalities surrounding classified information. The IFC and COL have asked staff from the Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) and the Office of Government Relations (OGR) to assist Council and other interested ALA members and units by bringing together information about the issues and policy questions raised by WikiLeaks’ activities, and the government’s response to those activities.

COL and IFC have taken the following steps in preparation for a discussion at the ALA Midwinter Meeting:

IFC and COL are working out details of a jointly sponsored program at Midwinter on Saturday, January 8, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. The program will include an update on the WikiLeaks situation and an opportunity for member comment on these issues. Details will be available when we have more specifics.
Prior to Midwinter, staff will bring together information about WikiLeaks, and the issues and policy questions raised by their disclosures, and post that information on ALA Connect and ALA’s website. The information will include references to existing ALA policies that address these issues. This will be a dynamic site with new questions and new information being posted as events evolve.
COL and IFC are working together and will seek to collaborate with other interested ALA units to bring to Council information and recommendations for consideration.

As we proceed, we know that IFC and COL would appreciate hearing your questions so as to be most helpful to you and others as the Association discusses these important issues. Please contact: Barbara Jones or Deborah Caldwell-Stone [OIF] or Lynne Bradley [OGR, Washington Office] if you have any questions.

COL and IFC will keep Council informed of developments as they occur….

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Camruinn Morgan-Rumsey and Lexi Lepof write: “On December 3, Knox County (Tenn.) schools received a list from the district of books to be removed from school libraries under Tennessee’s Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Knox County’s board of education voted in July, passing a policy to remove ‘explicit’ books from everyday student access in response to the new law. Some of the books on the list of nearly 50 titles might surprise parents. Among those to be removed are Shel Silverstein’s A Light in the Attic and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five.”

WVLT-TV (Knoxville, Tenn.), Dec. 4
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Joe Foley writes: “Copyright rules vary from country to country and have changed over time. In the US, works created between 1929 and 1963 that gave notice and renewed copyright have 95 years from their first publication date. That means that on January 1, 2025, a host of works from 1929 will enter the public domain. This means that copyright will expire on Buck Rogers, Captain Easy, Horace Horsecollar, Tintin, Hal Foster’s first Tarzan comic strips and, yes, Popeye.” Other notable works entering public domain in the United States include the Marx Brothers’ first film, The Cocoanuts, contralto Marian Anderson’s first record, and Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.

Creative Bloq, Dec. 7; Everybody’s Libraries, Dec. 3, Dec. 7; Public Domain Review, Dec. 10
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Brittany Adams writes: “The digital landscape of libraries is expanding rapidly, with an increasing shift towards electronic resources and online services. As members of the library community, we’re witnessing a transformative era where physical collections are complemented—and sometimes replaced—by digital ones. This transition offers new opportunities for enhancing accessibility and engagement, but it also presents challenges, especially for young patrons and their families. It is essential to equip children and their caregivers with the tools and knowledge they need to navigate this evolving space confidently.”

ALSC Blog, Dec. 9
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Karen O’Grady writes: “I am the embedded librarian for the Hahn School of Nursing at the University of San Diego. I am surrounded by nursing faculty, staff, and students rather than by librarians. This has proven to be an incredible gamechanger for the way I see things. Every student in my school knows me by name. I am often stopped in the hallway to answer questions. Every correct answer I give increases my authority and builds trust. Through these casual mini-lessons, this foreign animal called ‘librarian’ slowly becomes an approachable, knowledgeable person.”

College & Research Libraries News, Dec.
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ALA has selected 46 participants for its 2025 class of Emerging Leaders (EL). The EL program allows library staff and information workers to participate in project planning work groups, network with peers, gain an inside look into ALA structure, and have an opportunity to serve the profession in a leadership capacity early in their careers. The group will take part in a day-long session during the 2025 LibLearnX conference in Phoenix this January and work for six months, culminating in a poster session at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia in June, where they will highlight results of their project planning work.

ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment, Dec. 4
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On December 9, ALA announced a $25 million bequest by James W. Lewis, of Washington, D.C. The gift, the largest individual bequest in ALA’s history, will fund scholarships for aspiring librarians with demonstrated financial needs. Throughout Lewis’s career at Merrill Lynch, where he leads the Lewis Group as senior vice president and senior relationship manager, he has demonstrated his commitment to libraries and their communities by generously volunteering his time, including as a member of the Board of Visitors at the library of his alma mater, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He also served as a Library Trustee Board member at District of Columbia Public Library for 10 years.”

AL: The Scoop, Dec. 9
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Tess Prendergast writes: “I will never forget the surprised look on one mom’s face during storytime when I dropped a tip—technically called an aside—about how rhyming helps babies differentiate sounds and prepares them for reading. “You mean that all this singing will help her in school?” she asked. “I thought we were just doing this for fun!” Early literacy activities are certainly fun—but also valuable. Many parents and caregivers aren’t aware that simple, everyday activities can benefit their child’s early language and literacy development and have a lasting positive impact on their learning.”

American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.