Tools & Reminders from the Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) and Library Development and Legislative Committee (LDLC)

Dear Oregon Librarian,
 
Strategies to challenge and remove books from libraries have continued to evolve over the past year. One of the newest approaches was seen last week in Josephine County, where an individual tax-payer petitioned county commissioners to have their property removed from the library taxing district. You can read more about this developing story at:

• Commissioners Approve Library District Withdrawal Petition in Split Decision
• Josephine Community Library pursues legal action after residents opt out of tax district

 
The Oregon Library Association is continuing to monitor this unfolding situation, and will be sharing any significant new developments. If you are a special district librarian and have questions about how this might impact your library, please reach out to the Special Districts Association of Oregon.
 
In the meantime, this is a good time for all libraries and librarians to:
 
Stay informed of IF issues and incidents.  Here are some resources to help:

• Register with the recently formed Parents Defending Schools and Libraries here: https://www.pdsal.org/
• www.EveryLibrary.org  
• ALA OIFC weekly newsletter - https://www.oif.ala.org/
• Stay trained.  OLA IFC has an updated toolkit available to you’re here: https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/
• Review your policies.  Especially your collection development and reconsideration policies. Here are some sample policies: https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/iftoolkit/policies.  If you want support with your policy, please contact the IFC here: https://www.olaweb.org/contact-ifc
• Develop a plan for building relationships with local elected officials.
• Build a strong support network through local partnerships and outreach.
• And a reminder, please submit challenge instances to the State Library here: https://libguides.osl.state.or.us/oifc/report .  

 
As always, the OLA Intellectual Freedom Committee and the OLA Legislative and Development Committee are here to support you.  Please feel free to reach out should you need additional or specific support.
 
Stay strong Oregon libraries!

Author

Emily O'Neal – IFC Chair
Jeremy Skinner – LDLC Chair
 --
Chair - [email protected]
Intellectual Freedom Committee https://www.olaweb.org/if-home
Oregon Library Association https://www.olaweb.org/