Intellectual Freedom Committee
Minutes

Annual Assembly • July 12, 2004

Present: Becky Pruett, Gayla Byerly, Jenniffer Hudson Connors, Beth Crabb, Linda Hughes, Viccy Kemp, Cathy Park, Karen Paulus, Teresa Varga, Shelley McCoy, Sheila Henderson, and Pat Smith

Becky Pruett called the meeting to order and asked the people present to introduce themselves, and to explain their interest in intellectual freedom.

Becky read the Minutes from the IF Committee Meeting on March 19, 2004, during Annual Conference. Linda Hughes moved to accept the Minutes, Teresa Varga seconded the motion, and the Minutes were accepted as read.

IF’s Liaison to 2005 Program Committee

Becky described the Program idea she had submitted to the 2005 Program Committee. The speaker would be Joe Raiola, the senior editor of MAD Magazine. Joe’s fee is $2,000, plus expenses. Karen Paulus, IF’s liaison to the Program Committee, reported that the committee had classified Joe’s presentation as a core program with a major speaker and an important topic, which would be of interest to a number of the TLA units. This core classification meant the program got a guaranteed time slot: Wednesday, April 6, 2005, from 10:15 to 11:40 a.m. Furthermore, the Program Committee changed the title of Joe’s presentation to “MAD about Censorship,” and the 2005 Program Committee will provide $500.00 toward the expenses of bringing Joe to Annual Conference. Becky reported that TASL is willing to co-sponsor the program and will provide at least $1,000 toward the expenses. Linda Hughes added that if additional funds were needed that the Administration Round Table could also make a contribution.

Unfinished Business

IFC Budget

Becky reported that last year’s IF budget was $1,000, but Catherine Lee recently told her that our budget had been reduced to $500.00. We get a flat rate, since IF brings in no funds. In view of the expenses we will incur in providing our program at Annual Conference, the committee agreed to ask Sheila Henderson, IF’s liaison to the Executive Board, to make our request that our budget remain at $1,000.

IF Goal Statement:

Goals #1, 2, and 4 -- Revamping IF Webpage

  • Becky provided a model of an IF webpage which would address a number of the five IF Goals. The model  Becky’s idea and the mock-up was created by her systems administrator. When asked who would administrate the IF webpage, Becky thought her systems administrator and TLA’s Mary Ann Emerson could work together in this capacity.
  • Gayla suggested that each link have a brief summary explaining what a user would find in that link, and she was willing to write these summaries.
  • Becky also distributed a copy of a flow chart entitled “Process for Reconsideration of Library Materials.” The committee thought this chart, as well as one outlining the procedures in a public library, would make wonderful additions to the IF webpage.
  • The committee also felt a “Tip Sheet” on dealing with material challenges was important for the webpage.
  • The webpage could also ask librarians to share information of any challenges that might occur in their libraries.
  • Finally, the webpage would need to include the names of the IF Committee members, so users would have people to contact if a challenge occurred.

Members should submit ideas for any additional webpage changes to Becky by July 26th.

Goal #3

Revamping the IF webpage and seeking assistance in publicizing the IF Award are IF’s current action plan.

Goal #4

Librarians across the state educate the public whenever they contact a new principal, teacher, school board member, city council member, etc. to give this person an overview of IF and the policy in place for handling challenges.

Goal #5 -- Suggestions for publicizing the IF Award included:

  • Contacting the chair-elect of each TLA region, to ask that an announcement be made at each fall district meeting;
  • Publishing the nomination form in TLACast;
  • Seeking the assistance of TASL (contact Tonya Tullos) and Public Library Division (contact Corinne Hill);
  • Having TLA send an e-mail blast to all members, surveying challenges and seeking nominations for the IF Award;
  • Asking TLA to feature the IF Surveys and the IF Award nomination form on the TLA homepage for a specified window of time, possibly during National Library Week; and
  • Adding a reminder about the IF Award to the ACLU form, so reporting a challenge could possibly solicit a nomination.

Handbook Review

Linda Hughes said she had looked through the IF Handbook and did not believe it to need any updates at this time. Becky noted that she wondered if the “Intellectual Freedom Censorship Database Form” was being used anymore and stated that she would ask Pat Smith about it.

New Business

Public Library Censorship/Book Challenge Survey

Becky explained that the ACLU form focuses on challenges in schools. The ACLU gathers data on how many challenges occur in school libraries, what material was challenged, as well as the disposition of the challenge, and they compile an annual report on this data. Becky asked the committee to consider whether we need a form or survey that focuses on challenges in public libraries. The committee suggested such a survey be included in the newly revamped IF webpage. Pat Smith suggested that library science graduate students could be asked to compile the statistics from the public libraries, and Gayla Byerly offered to assist in contacting UNT students.

TLA Program Ideas

Becky presented the data collected from the people who attended the 2004 Annual
Conference, and she noted that censorship/filtering was #12 on a long list of interests. The committee felt like Joe Raiola would provide provocative ideas on a number of IF issues.

IF Freedom Award

Jenniffer Hudson Connors confirmed that the award now consists of a plaque and $500 for the recipient. The award no longer provides $500 for the library of the recipient’s choice. Pat Smith will contact ProQuest to discuss the dollar amount, since ProQuest would need to keep the award at $1,000.00, in order to remain at their current level of publicity during the Closing Luncheon. IF will go ahead with plans to seek nominations. 

Executive Committee Liaison Report

Sheila agreed to submit IF’s request for the budget to remain at $1,000. She also provided information on the People to People Ambassadors Program.

Cathy Park made a motion to adjourn, Linda Hughes seconded the motion, and Becky Pruett adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Shelley McCoy, IFC member