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The Intellectual Freedom Round Table of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½ is pleased to announce that the Connecticut Library Association Intellectual Freedom Committee is the 2020 recipient of the Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award.

The Intellectual Freedom Committee (IFC) of the Connecticut Library Association (CLA) identified emerging issues with LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) and initiated a national conversation within the profession on the topic of privacy and the appropriate use of patron information. Beginning with statewide discussion, then a widely read by state IFC Chair Samantha Lee, the advocacy efforts they initiated inspired a campaign that resulted in LinkedIn Learning its registration terms for library users and dropping the requirement to create a LinkedIn profile to access the service.

The recognizes an organization that has developed a strong multi-year, ongoing program or a single, one year project that exemplifies support for intellectual freedom, patron confidentiality, and anti-censorship efforts. The award is named after Gerald Hodges, an ¾«¶«´«Ã½staff member from 1989 to 2006. Chapter relations and intellectual freedom were his passions and he willed a portion of his estate to support those efforts. The award consists of $1,000 and a citation and has been given since 2013.

Members of the are: Shane Roopnarine (Chair), University of Central Florida; Stephanie Barnaby, Boston University School of Law; Heather Hopkins; Eldon Ray James, a retired Freedom of Information Act researcher from Austin, Texas; Isabel Gordon Klein, Cuyahoga County Public Library; and Amanda Vazquez, Dubuque County Library District.

The (IFRT) provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the ¾«¶«´«Ã½in defense of intellectual freedom; and promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of ALA's policies on intellectual freedom.

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