| Abbreviation | NJLA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1890 |
| Type | Library association |
| Location | |
Region served | New Jersey |
Executive Director | Brett Bonfield |
Main organ | Executive Board |
| Affiliations | American Library Association |
| Website | http://www.njla.org |
The New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) is a library organization located in Bordentown, New Jersey. It was established in 1890, and is the oldest library organization in the State of New Jersey. [1] The NJLA began in 1890 with 39 members, and currently has over 1,700. [1] [2] The organization states on its website that it "advocates for the advancement of library services for the residents of New Jersey, provides continuing education & networking opportunities for librarians", and "supports the principles of intellectual freedom & promotes access to library materials for all". [1]
On December 29, 1890, 39 charter member libraries formed the New Jersey Library Association and elected their first president, William Prall. [3] Prall, a New Jersey State Assembly member from Passaic County, [3] served as president from 1890–1891. [4] He had previously introduced the state library law in 1884. [5] The original purpose of the organization was "to instill in the minds of assistants a love of the work in which they are engaged". [5] The organization helped to promote state legislation benefiting libraries, and successfully pushed forward passage of the state Traveling Library Law for rural librarians in 1899. [6] It helped promote the law which established the New Jersey Public Library Commission in 1900. [6]
In 1905, the organization helped to set up a summer school for librarians, and in 1922, assisted in the establishment of a "graded summer school for library service". [7] The organization's publication New Jersey Libraries has appeared continuously in various formats since 1911. [8] In 1927, the NJLA assisted the Public Library Commission in forming a library school at the Douglass College, then known as New Jersey College for Women. [7]
The NJLA was officially incorporated on April 19, 1951, and structured with an Executive Board to oversee operations. [9] The NJLA has published several studies on the services offered by public and county libraries, including the reports Library Service for the People of New Jersey in 1953, [6] Libraries for the People of New Jersey, or Knowledge for All in 1963, [10] and Interim Goals for a New Jersey Library Development Program in 1977. [10] The Grievance Committee was established by the organization in 1962 to investigate grievances of librarians and maintain professional standards. [11] The Intellectual Freedom Committee was established in the same year, and acts against censorship. [11] The Intellectual Freedom Committee has presented testimony before New Jersey state committees, in opposition to legislation regulating obscenity and pornography. [11] In October 1976, the association passed a resolution that all "future publications and official documents of NJLA avoid terminology which perpetuates sex stereotyping, and that existent publications and official documents, as they are revised, be changed to avoid such terminology". [12] In 1991, the organization sponsored Books for Kids, a statewide program which encourages children to read by themselves. [13] [14]
The NJLA supported the American Library Association's position in challenging the 2001 Children's Internet Protection Act, which mandates public libraries install pornography filters on computers with Internet access in order for the libraries to receive federal funding. [15] The Act was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in a 2003 decision. [15] "Obviously we feel it's a very difficult decision to implement. There's no guidance on how to implement it. There's a lot of confusion about what's going to happen and what requirements would have to be followed if federal funds were obtained," said NJLA executive director Patricia Tumulty in a statement about the decision to The Star-Ledger . [15] Tumulty said that the law would disproportionately affect libraries with less available funding. [16] In 2002, the NJLA and corporate sponsor, the Verizon Foundation, started the nonprofit charity program New Jersey Reads to encourage literacy among the 2 million people in New Jersey who have trouble reading. [17] New Jersey Reads was started with US$325,000 in funding from Verizon. [18] In 2003, the NJLA organized a seminar for approximately 150 librarians, educating them on how to protect readers' privacy in light of the USA PATRIOT Act. [19] "We are grappling with this – we are a country at war and everyone wants to be patriotic, but they're forgetting the First Amendment," said one librarian who attended the convention. [19] The association organizes the One Book New Jersey program, and chooses one book for each age group to promote literacy. [20] In 2003, then-First Lady Dina Matos McGreevey was the spokeswoman for One Book New Jersey. [20] One Book New Jersey was developed by the NJLA and the New Jersey State Library. [21]
The NJLA advocate for the Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement published by the ALA. Their website contains articles and resources for public users to educate themselves and to assist their involvement in their communities. The causes that the NJLA advocate for include the fight against censorship, the spreading of awareness about state legislature, and the providing of resources for school libraries and librarians. The NJLA supports intellectual freedom and their website claims that the "NJLA categorically rejects any effort to censor or remove materials from any library, based on content". [22] They also spread awareness about state legislature as it relates to the library community. The website provides a yearly state budget update and a list of recently enacted library legislature for patrons to review. [23] The NJLA also provides a link to a resource that assists users in finding and contacting their state legislator. [24] In order to provide resources for school libraries and librarians, the NJLA also contains a link to the New Jersey Association of School Librarians (NJASL). [25]
The NJLA also provides a list of Executive Board Statements and Resolutions that are available to the general public. This list, by default is sorted in chronological order from newest entry to oldest but includes a filter for quick navigation. [26] In their effort to encourage intellectual freedom, awareness and participation in their communities, and access to education, the NJLA subscribes to a set of core values. A list of these core values can be reviewed on their website. [27]
In 1977, the American Library Association presented the NJLA with the annual Grolier Award, which recognizes the "best public relations program promoting public library use". [8] In its entry describing the association in the Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, the encyclopedia notes: "Whatever will be accomplished, it may be prophesied without fear or contradiction that the NJLA will stand in the front row when a tally is taken of effective and steadfast library supporters." [9]
The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members as of 2021.
The Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) is the Massachusetts, United States professional library association that "advocates for libraries, librarians, and library staff, defends intellectual freedom, and provides a forum for leadership, communication, professional development, and networking to keep libraries vital." MLA publishes standards for library services to Massachusetts children and young adults. MLA sponsors an annual conference, as well as continuing education programs and organizational reports of interest. The current President of MLA is Esme Green, Director of the Goodnow Library in Sudbury.
Judith Fingeret Krug was an American librarian, freedom of speech proponent, and critic of censorship. Krug became director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association in 1967. In 1969, she joined the Freedom to Read Foundation as its executive director. Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.
Eli Martin Oboler was an American librarian who worked as the longtime librarian at the Idaho State University library, later renamed the Eli M. Oboler Library, from 1949 to 1980. He was also a member of the Idaho Library Association and the Pacific Northwest Library Association, and served as president for both organizations. Oboler was a noted defender of intellectual freedom and an anti-censorship activist.
Banned Books Week is an annual awareness campaign promoted by the American Library Association and Amnesty International, that celebrates the freedom to read, draws attention to banned and challenged books, and highlights persecuted individuals. Held during the last full week of September since 1982, the United States campaign "stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them" and the requirement to keep material publicly available so that people can develop their own conclusions and opinions. The international campaign notes individuals "persecuted because of the writings that they produce, circulate or read." Some of the events that occur during Banned Book Week are The Virtual Read-Out and The First Amendment Film Festival.
The Free Expression Policy Project (FEPP) is an organization devoted to assisting researchers with assembling information related to freedom of speech, media democracy, and copyright, and advocating for these issues. Civil liberties lawyer Marjorie Heins founded the nonprofit organization in 2000. Based in Manhattan, New York, it was initially associated with the National Coalition Against Censorship, and subsequently operated as part of the Democracy Program of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School.
The Pennsylvania Library Association (PaLA) is the professional association for librarians in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It represents about 2,000 members affiliated with public, academic, special, and school libraries throughout the state, and was founded in 1901.
Everett Thomson Moore was a Harvard University-educated librarian active in the Freedom to Read Foundation, which promoted intellectual freedom in libraries. He worked as an academic librarian at the University of Illinois, University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles, eventually joining UCLA's School of Library Service faculty in 1961. Moore is most famous for challenging California's attorney general on issues of censorship and intellectual freedom in libraries in the case of Moore v. Younger. In 1999, American Libraries named him one of the "100 Most Important Leaders We Had in the 20th Century".
Ralph Adrian Ulveling was an American librarian best known for his support of intellectual freedom, interracial understanding, and the advancement of the library and information science profession. He is listed as one of the most important contributors to the library profession during the 20th century by the journal American Libraries.
Zoia Markovna Horn, born in Ukraine, became in 1972 the first United States librarian to be jailed for refusing to share information as a matter of conscience. Horn, an outspoken member of the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee, worked at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania in the early 1970s. Horn was jailed for nearly three weeks for contempt of court after refusing to testify for the prosecution in the 1972 conspiracy trial of the "Harrisburg Seven" anti-war activists.
Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas without restriction. Viewed as an integral component of a democratic society, intellectual freedom protects an individual's right to access, explore, consider, and express ideas and information as the basis for a self-governing, well-informed citizenry. Intellectual freedom comprises the bedrock for freedoms of expression, speech, and the press and relates to freedoms of information and the right to privacy.
Librarianship and human rights in the U.S. are linked by the philosophy and practice of library and information professionals supporting the rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), particularly the established rights to information, knowledge and free expression.
Book censorship is the removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational material – of images, ideas, and information – on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable according to the standards applied by the censor. Censorship is "the regulation of speech and other forms of expression by an entrenched authority". The overall intent of censorship, in any form, is to act as "a kind of safeguard for society, typically to protect norms and values [...] censorship suppresses what is considered objectionable from a political, moral, or religious standpoint."
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The censorship of student media in the United States is the suppression of student-run news operations' free speech by school administrative bodies, typically state schools. This consists of schools using their authority to control the funding and distribution of publications, taking down articles, and preventing distribution. Some forms of student media censorship extend to expression not funded by or under the official auspices of the school system or college.
The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) is an American non-profit anti-censorship organization, established in 1969 by the American Library Association. The organization has been active in First Amendment-based challenges to book removals from libraries, and in anti-surveillance work. In addition to its legal work, the FTRF engages in advocacy and public awareness, such as its sponsorship of the annual celebration of "Banned Books Week".
Not in Front of the Children: "Indecency," Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth is a non-fiction book by attorney and civil libertarian, Marjorie Heins about freedom of speech and the relationship between censorship and the "think of the children" argument. The book presents a chronological history of censorship from Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and the Middle Ages to the present. It discusses notable censored works, including Ulysses by James Joyce, Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence and the seven dirty words monologue by comedian George Carlin. Heins discusses censorship aimed at youth in the United States through legislation including the Children's Internet Protection Act and the Communications Decency Act.
Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy: A Guide to America's Censorship Wars is a non-fiction book by lawyer and civil libertarian Marjorie Heins that is about freedom of speech and the censorship of works of art in the early 1990s by the U.S. government. The book was published in 1993 by The New Press. Heins provides an overview of the history of censorship, including the 1873 Comstock laws, and then moves on to more topical case studies of attempts at suppression of free expression.
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Leslie Burger is an American librarian who served for sixteen years as the executive director of the Princeton Public Library. She held the position of president of the American Library Association from 2006 to 2007.
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