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12-13-03 or 1288 |
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From: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults and
Children" <pubyac@prairienet.org>
To: "PUBYAC: PUBlic librarians serving Young Adults and Children"
<pubyac@prairienet.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2003 11:01 PM
Subject: PUBYAC digest 1288
Topics covered in this issue include: 1) LAWYERS FOR LIBRARIES NEWSLETTER by "Don Wood" <dwood@ala.org> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Don Wood" <dwood@ala.org> To: <alsc-l@ala.org> Subject: LAWYERS FOR LIBRARIES NEWSLETTER Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 15:01:35 CST LAWYERS FOR LIBRARIES NEWSLETTER Vol. 1, No. 6 December 12, 2003 Office for Intellectual Freedom American Library Association www.ala.org/lawyers PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! ************************* In This Issue: 1) Fifth Regional Institute Scheduled for Boston, May 6-7, 2004 2) Texas Librarians Williams and Hughes, Dinner at JFK Museum Highlight Dallas Institute 3) Online Registration Now Available 4) Lawyers for Libraries: A Cost Comparison +++++++++++++++++++ 1) Fifth Regional Institute Scheduled for Boston, May 6-7, 2004 The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom is pleased to announce that Boston will be the site of the Lawyers for Libraries Northeast Regional Training Institute. The Boston institute, scheduled for May 6-7, 2004, is the fifth regional Lawyers for Libraries training. The format will be the same as in past trainings, featuring up-to-date information on the key First Amendment legal issues facing libraries today, including: - Filtering and the repercussions of the Supreme Court's CIPA decision; - Privacy, law enforcement requests, and the USA Patriot Act; - Library liability for exposing patrons and staff to unprotected speech; and - "Harmful to minors" statutes - updates in the laws and the implications for libraries. As with all Lawyers for Libraries institutes, attorneys and library trustees are the intended participants. Librarians are welcome to attend as well, provided they are accompanied by an attorney. The cost of the institute is $500 per person and Continuing Legal Education credits are available. The historic Boston Park Plaza at 64 Arlington St. will be the site of the training. The Park Plaza is offering attendees a special room rate of $159/night. For reservations, call (888) 627-8279 by April 11, and mention Lawyers for Libraries. To register for the Boston institute, or for more information, please visit www.ala.org/lawyers or contact Jonathan Kelley at (800) 545-2433 x4226 or jkelley@ala.org. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 2) Texas Librarians Williams and Hughes, Dinner at JFK Museum Highlight Dallas Institute Two Texas librarians who recently overcame high-profile book challenges will be guest speakers at the South Central Regional Lawyers for Libraries Institute, to be held February 12-13, 2004 in Dallas, TX. Linda Hughes and Jerilynn Williams will discuss the legal and political steps taken in their communities to keep controversial books on their libraries' shelves. Williams, director of the Montgomery County Memorial Library System in Conroe, faced a high-profile attempt by a county judge and the county commission to remove two sex education books from library shelves. Trying to circumvent the library's material reconsideration process, the judge and commissioners went after two books by Robie Harris: It's Perfectly Normal and It's So Amazing. Williams and the library ultimately triumphed over the censorship attempt by convincing the commission that a formal reconsideration process was preferable to a hasty outright ban. Hughes, administrator of the Wichita Falls Public Library, was at the center of a maelstrom over two books targeted at the children of gay and lesbian parents. Local officials and a prominent minister led a drive to allow for petitions that by themselves could mandate moving any book from the children's area to the adult area - and Daddy's Roommate and Heather Has Two Mommies faced exactly that fate. Nineteen plaintiffs then successfully sued to overturn the ordinance. Hughes, though a defendant in the landmark case, nonetheless opposed the ordinance from its inception and applauded the final ruling. Williams and Hughes will participate in the "Librarians Panel" on Friday, February 13. In other Dallas Institute news, the reception and dinner on Thursday, February 12, will take place at the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, the local landmark commemorating the life and death of President John F. Kennedy, Jr. Attendees will have sole after-hours access to the museum's exhibits before dinner. Free transportation to and from the museum will be provided, courtesy of the Dallas Fairmont. The Fairmont, host of the training, is offering an outstanding room rate of $119/night for conference attendees who make their reservations by January 26. Call (800) 441-1414 for reservations and mention the American Library Association. To register for the Dallas institute, or for more information, please visit www.ala.org/lawyers or contact Jonathan Kelley at (800) 545-2433 x4226 or jkelley@ala.org. <><><><><><><><><><><> 3) Online Registration Now Available Starting today, you can register for a Lawyers for Libraries institute using ALA's secure server. Just go to https://cs.ala.org/lawyers/onlineform/ to register online using a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express) or purchase order. You can also print out a registration form at www.ala.org/lawyers and fax it to (312) 280-4227, or mail the form with your check or credit card information to Lawyers for Libraries, Office for Intellectual Freedom, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Finally, you can register by phone at (800) 545-2433 x4226. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 4) Lawyers for Libraries: A Cost Comparison A number of librarians have commented that $500 is pricy for a training institute. Certainly, it's no small amount, particularly when cash-strapped libraries are asked to pay for their attorney or a trustee to attend. However, past experience and reports from attendees clearly demonstrate that Lawyers for Libraries is well worth the investment. First, Continuing Legal Education seminars are, on average, generally not inexpensive. The registration fee of $500 is in fact well within the cost range for major CLE providers. For example, a one-day, in-person American Bar Association seminar on class actions costs $550 and a two-day depositions seminar run by a major national CLE provider runs $1,250. Moreover, the faculty for Lawyers for Libraries includes some of the most prominant and experienced attorneys in the field of First Amendment library law. Attending a Lawyers for Libraries seminars is merely one part of building an ongoing relationship with the Office for Intellectual Freedom and our team of experts. Second, it's important to ask the questions, "How much is it worth to avert a legal crisis? To be able to handle a crisis effectively when it arises?" The value of Lawyers for Libraries trainings is in preparing a library for a political or legal crisis - something all too many public, school, and even college libraries will eventually face. By discussing crucial policies and practices, exploring in depth the legal history of censorship and privacy concerns in libraries, and providing resources and material integral to strengthening the First Amendment, Lawyers for Libraries institutes can end up saving libraries thousands of dollars over the long (or even short!) run. Finally, the networking with faculty and attendees that occurs during the reception and meals (the cost of which is included) is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for attorneys to learn from each other the kinds of legal challenges that libraries face. First Amendment specialists, in-house attorneys, municipal lawyers, private practice attorneys who are (or who wish to be) on retainer for libraries, and local attorneys and others on the boards of libraries are among those who will be there to share their own stories of censors' attacks and library victories (and setbacks). According to participants, Lawyers for Libraries trainings "deal with issues that we are dealing with on a daily basis," the faculty was "uniformly articulate and extremely informative," and overall the institute proved to be "one of the best CLEs I have attended." Nearly every participant surveyed said they would recommend the program to a colleague. Examples of comments from Lawyers for Libraries participants can be found online at www.ala.org/lawyers/feedback. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Office for Intellectual Freedom American Library Association 50 E. Huron St. Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 280-4223/ (800) 545-2433 x4223 fax (312) 280-4227 oif@ala.org www.ala.org/oif ------------------------------ End of PUBYAC Digest 1288 *************************
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