The RILA Intellectual Freedom Committee is planning a public forum on intellectual freedom issues in school libraries. The committee is looking for panelists who can speak to student confidentiality, challenges to the content of books, films, games, websites accessible in the library, and labeling of books and other media according to grade level.

Panelists can include school librarians, teachers, public librarians, children’s librarians, parents, school committee members, and administrators. Please let us know if you are interested in serving on this panel and forward suggestions to us for names of other people who might be interested. We will be advertising the event so that we can reach out to the community, including teachers, parents, administrators, school committee members and other interested parties.

The questions below may be asked of the panelists and we hope to include the audience in discussing these questions.

Topics:

1. Who determines what materials (books, other media) are acquired or accessed in the library and do these suggestions need to be reviewed?
2. How is the library organized?
3. Are items cataloged and/or arranged by subject, age-appropriate levels, or other?
4. How are these levels determined: librarians (through use of books reviews and school library magazines), administrators, school committees?
5. Is there a policy where permission is granted to parents or guardians to see what books have been charged out?
6. How is the choice of websites, games, programs, etc. determined? Librarians, administrators, school committees, etc.?
7. Have there been any challenges by parents, school committees, etc. against materials available in the libraries? And how was it resolved.

Please respond by April 1 to the Intellectual Freedom Committee co-chairs, Jim Kinnie (jkinnie@uri.edu) and Carla Weiss (cmweiss8@gmail.com).