Joe Kohlburn is a doctoral candidate in information science, librarian, activist, and an arts advocate in St. Louis, MO.
Great news today! Our MLA-IFC won the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award given by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign! As always it is a great honor to be part of the MLA-IFC when it isn't winning awards, but I'm incredibly excited that our long years of work (especially long over the past 3 or so …
Continue reading "We won the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award!"
The opinions expressed in the below blog post are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the MLA, MASL, or the MO-ACLU. As a member of the MO House for the past seven years, I have to assume Cody Smith must know the true nature of the MLA, MASL, and MO-ACLU’s suit against …
Continue reading "Defunding Libraries Hurts Missouri, Obviously."
What is there to say about the MO House of Representatives voting to remove funding from Missouri Libraries? I have no doubt that MO-Reps already know all of this, but for those of you who are unaware, MLA and MASL receive no state funding. They are all-volunteer-run membership organizations working on behalf of professional librarians. …
Continue reading "Missouri Legislature Hellworld Intellectual Freedom News Roundup"
The Missouri ACLU has announced a lawsuit on behalf of MASL and the MLA against Jackson County to address SB 775, and the undue burden it puts on school librarians as well as other librarians in the state. Given the overlapping peril with the latest HB's coming out to codify the Secretary of State's proposed …
Continue reading "MO-ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of MASL and MLA"
Intellectual freedom advocacy in Missouri asks a lot and promises very little. What makes it possible to continue to advocate and push against totalitarian impulses in law and policy around here is keeping in mind the wellbeing of the communities we serve and having absolutely exceptional and badass colleagues like Tiffany Mautino and Colleen Norman. …
Continue reading "Intellectual Freedom Chairs (MLA) 2021-2023"
This event presents the recent wave of censorship across the state of Missouri removing books and art in libraries. Legislation like SB 775 and the MO Secretary of State’s recent Proposed Rule to control library funding could undermine democracy and push us closer to fascism. This past year alone, attempts to ban books nationwide have …
This panel brings together several brilliant folks to chat about the state of access in these fraught political times (especially as regards information resilience). I will be talking about book bans and local legislatures efforts to block access for historically marginalized populations among other topics. This panel will be on Halloween at 2 PM EST …
I was honored to be part of this discussion on Tuesday with Jaime Gregory, Nadine Farid Johnson and Megan Fromm of NAMLE for Media Literacy Week. Jaime is an award-winning AMAZING school librarian from South Carolina and Nadine co-wrote this important report for PEN America on the state of book banning in the US. I …
Continue reading "Panel Discussion- Banned in the USA- NAMLE/ US Media Literacy Week"
The latest proposed rule is a solution in search of a problem. A few of the requirements in the proposed rule are already best practices in libraries. The ALA and MLA already recommend that libraries have written collection development policies (A) and challenge processes and procedures (F). Indeed, many of our latest qualms about school …
Continue reading "Statement on Proposed Rule 15 CSR 30-200.015"
My profound thanks to my colleagues on all their excellent work this year. Here is a non-exhaustive list of our appearances in print and television this year. Well done advocates! KSDK - February 2022 https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/education/aclu-missouri-file-suit-against-wentzville-school-district-book-ban-the-bluest-eye/63-65f9c4e8-cb79-4a26-805b-2c1d9ec360ab St. Louis Post- Dispatch - June 2022 https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/library-group-again-implores-wentzville-school-board-to-stop-banning-books/article_12c41756-63b1-5e69-b645-a1af44551151.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest Independence Examiner - July 2022 https://www.examiner.net/2022/07/09/end-school-library-censorship-and-address-the-damage-it-has-done/ KOMU - August 2022 (https://www.komu.com/news/state/new-missouri-law-will-ban-sharing-visually-explicit-materials-with-students/article_97717864-2493-11ed-9871-bb4c9247515f.html) St. …
Joe Kohlburn 