Free Speech Should be for Librarians Too
Librarians and Self-censorship Free speech for librarians comes with unspoken conditions I encounter many (often young) librarians in real life and online. One of the most frequent things people tell me is, "How come you are so free with your speech? I could never talk about those things--I would get fired." or more often, "...I would never land a job!" It is striking that librarians consider themselves defenders of free speech and intellectual freedom, but that the above sentiment is held by so many librarians. Why are librarians scared to speak about important issues? I understand about library constituencies, but I'm not talking about library directors here--I'm speaking about regular librarians, or librarians searching for a job. Last month, I had a session at the Oregon Library Association Conference. My session was on cannabis resources for librarians. The session consisted of a panel. I had invited another kn...