In this episode, I conclude my conversation with Alessandra Seiter about the myth of library neutrality. We'll talk about her sociohistorically informed model of intellectual freedom and find out how individuals and institutions have challenged the idea of library neutrality, and I'll provide a brief update on the American Library Association's attempt to revise language in an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights to include hate speech.
Alessandra Seiter is an MLIS candidate at Simmons College in Boston, Massachussets. Her paper, Libraries, Power, and Justice: Toward a Sociohistorically Informed Intellectual Freedom, won the Progressive Librarians Guild's 2018 Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize, and her piece in response to the American Library Association, "Libraries Can't Afford to Welcome Hate," appeared in the July 13, 2018 online edition of Socialist Worker.
- KBOO