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Preparing for Program Challenges at your Public Library

Are you unsure how to handle a program challenge in your library?  Do you worry about having the right policies and procedures in place? Two public library directors will share their personal experiences with intellectual freedom challenges of programs.  Learn best practices and strategies for supporting staff, board, and community members through program challenges. Resources to assist in responding to challenges and crafting appropriate policies, procedures, and training will be provided.

Learning Outcomes: 

They Want To Shut Us Down: The Threats That Canceled a Drag Queen Bingo Program and How the Library Handled It

Illustration of colorful silhouettes of people looking at phones on a dark blue background. There are illustrations of exclamation points and other imagery suggesting threat and alarm.

Amanda Klenk was looking forward to a fun, successful event hosted by a local drag performer, Aurora Divine. As the teen services coordinator for the Downers Grove (Ill.) Public Library, she strives to connect teens to new experiences in age-appropriate and accessible ways. Klenk’s upcoming Drag Queen Bingo event, designed for teens in seventh through twelfth grade, was scheduled for National Coming Out Day.

The event was turning out to be one of the largest teen programs in her four years programming with the library. The registration list was full and the waitlist was growing.

Tags
library program
programming librarian
threats
program cancellation
library threat
drag queen bingo
drag queen
drag queen story time
tips
banned books
book banning
OIF
intellectual freedom
censorship
censorship in programs
downers grove public library
FOIA
stressful situations

Report Censorship (Even Programs!)

Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association

Last year, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Memorial Library was forced to cancel a program for safety reasons after receiving threatening phone calls. The program, titled Know Your Rights, was supposed to inform undocumented residents about their rights. People went beyond expressing their objections to the library program and threatened the safety of attendees, thereby denying access to information and resources.

Tags
OIF
intellectual freedom
Office for Intellectual Freedom
canceling
cancellation
threatening
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