Call for Presentations: Politics of Libraries V: “Intellectual Freedom and Democracy”

November 28, 2022

Politics of Libraries V: “Intellectual Freedom and Democracy”

With Keynote Speaker Sam Popowich

March and April 2023
Online Speakers Series

The American Library Association defines Intellectual Freedom as “the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction” (2007). At the international level, Intellectual Freedom is protected under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These principles are supported by the Canadian Library Association as providing “the interlocking freedoms to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (2015). In Canada, Intellectual Freedom is further protected under s. 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Challenges to library collections and programs such as arbitrary and unconstitutional censorship of prison library materials; challenges to LGBTQIA2S+ materials, topics, and presenters; and the defunding of the Patmos Library in Jamestown, Michigan (one among several cases), as just a few examples, bring to light the politicization of information and its relationship to censorship. To this end, Politics of Libraries V (PoLV) seeks to generate a thoughtful discussion on libraries as non-neutral political institutions which can serve as tools to help or hinder democracy. PoLV recognizes that despite the field’s stated commitment to intellectual freedom, many librarians (especially those who work outside of academia) lack the intellectual freedom to voice criticisms of their own employer. Is intellectual freedom under attack? Is it a discursive scapegoat to avoid more substantive work towards equality? Is it the cornerstone of the profession or an illusory guise the field cloaks itself in to avoid facing deeper truths?

We invite practitioners, scholars, activists, students, and other members of the general public interested in library allied information services to submit proposals on the topic of Intellectual Freedom and Democracy in libraries.

Please submit proposals (not to exceed 400 words) for individual (40-minute presentations) and group/panel contributions using the Presentation Proposal Form: by midnight January 15, 2023.

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process undertaken by the conference organizers. Notification on the status of submissions will be made by February 1, 2023. Presentations will occur on Fridays at 12pm MST time in March (beginning Mar. 18) and April, 2023 (last presentation Apr. 29, 2023). Please indicate any limitations on availability for these dates.

Politics of Libraries is happy to facilitate ongoing access to presentations by either accepting a recorded presentation followed by live discussion or recording of the live presentation to be included in the Politics of Libraries Collection in the University of Alberta’s institutional archive (Educational and Research Archive) under a Creative Commons licence.

For information on PoL V and past Politics of Libraries events please see our website.