Panel

Presentation Description:

Recent years have seen the Freedom to Read move from a professional principle to a front-page story. Pressures seen internationally are also being felt in Australia, with libraries facing book challenges, protests and campaigns seeking to remove or restrict access to materials, often targeting LGBTQIA+ content or materials for young readers.

This session will showcase the reflections and insights of two experts who have been in the middle of this shift, advocating, educating and working with libraries on the front line – Jane Cowell, outgoing ALIA President and former CEO of the Yarra Plenty Regional Library, and the incoming ALIA president (TBC).

They will discuss their experience with book challenges and censorship in Australian libraries over the last few years, how individual institutions have risen to the challenge, and the role ALIA has taken in supporting them. They will also look ahead, discussing the emerging trends they are seeing and how we can fight future threats to intellectual freedom.

Throughout it all the focus will be on supporting libraries and library workers to protect the principle that underpins our profession: the right of every person to choose what they read.