Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, Vol. 4, No. 2 (Summer 2019)
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JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Office for Intellectual Freedom, an office & PRIVACY of the American Library Association From a library art exhibit about mental health. SABRINA NEWS: 3 REVIEWS: 5 12 THOMAS AND CENSORSHIP INSIDE ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA, SUMMER 2019 KACY LOVELACE: DATELINE, FROM THE SPEAK FREELY, AND VOL. 4 _ NO. 2 ENDING THE SILENCE BENCH, AND MORE ISSN 2474-7459 MORE CONTENTS _ SUMMER 2019 COMMENTARIES 3 _ Ending the Silence Utilizing Personal Experiences to Enhance a Library Mental Health Initiative Sabrina Thomas and Kacy Lovelace REVIEWS 5 _ Anti-Social Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy 6 _ Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech 8 _ How to Rig an Election 9 _ The Internet Trap: How the Digital Economy Builds Monopolies and Undermines Democracy NEWS 12 _ Censorship Dateline 23 _ From the Bench 38 _ Is It Legal? 59 _ Success Stories 65 _ Drag Queen Storytimes 79 _ For the Record 84 _ Targets of the Censor FORTUNATELY, I WORK IN A LIBRARY, AND LIBRARIANS ARE MASTER BRIDGE BUILDERS, CONNECTING PEOPLE TO RESOURCES, PEOPLE, INFORMATION, AND ULTIMATELY, TO A BETTER PLACE.” Sabrina Thomas and Kacy Lovelace, Ending the Silence _ 3 JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND PRIVACY _ SUMMER 2019 1 SUMMER 2019 _ ABOUT THE COVER _ The image on the front cover of this month’s issue is of “Gate,” artwork created by Deacon Stone in 2006 and featured in the Drinko Library art exhibition at Marshall University. The exhibit was designed to explore perspectives on mental health in the library. For more information, please see the commentary featured on page 3. The artist describes his work: “‘Gate’ is from a series of gates created from assemblages, comprised of objects found or forged. The works are an exploration of boundaries both self-imposed and perceived, and contemplations of how humans—as masters of categorization and organization—attempt to understand the world by designations; creating boundaries, limits, and arenas. “As a son of the hills, raised in a Pentecostal tradition of Ap- palachian Mysticism, challenged by the expansion of boundaries that comes with a good liberal arts education, I had—and have still—so many perceived boundaries to erase; closed gates through which to pass, others to do away with altogether. “The critical lesson in this journey has been that while we take comfort in our categorizations, or cocoon into the safety of in-group favoritism, we must be ever wary of out-group hostility which is an inevitable result. As physical objects, these gates are attempts at relegating our divisiveness and instinctive catego- A close-up of “Gate,” artwork by Deacon Stone and rization to the history books . a recollection of how we used to featured in the library at Marshall University. think, feel, and behave.“ Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy (ISSN 2474-7459) vol. 4, no. 2 _ Summer 2019 Editor Publisher Shannon M. Oltmann, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY Office for Intellectual Freedom, an office of the American Library Association Managing Editor Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, Editorial Assistant Office for Intellectual Freedom Elan Ward, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY News Editor Production David R. Stone, Chicago, IL ALA Production Services: Tim Clifford, Chris Keech, and Lauren Ehle Editorial Board John T. F. Burgess, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy is published Roseanne Cordell, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL quarterly (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) by the Office for Mack Freeman, West Georgia Regional Library, Carrollton, GA Intellectual Freedom, an office of the American Library Martin Garnar, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO Association, 50 E Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Clem Guthro, California State University, Fullerton, CA Kyle M. L. Jones, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN Emily J. M. Knox, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL Shannon M. Oltmann, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY Michael Wright, Dubuque County Library, Asbury, IA JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND PRIVACY _ SUMMER 2019 2 COMMENTARY Ending the Silence Utilizing Personal Experiences to Enhance a Library Mental Health Initiative Authors _ Sabrina Thomas ([email protected]), research and instruction librarian at Marshall University, and Kacy Lovelace ([email protected]), student success and research librarian at Marshall University This article summarizes a panel presentation given at the American Library Association Annual Con- ference in Washington D.C. (June 22, 2019). The panel consisted of Sabrina Thomas, research and instruction librarian at Marshall University; Leah Tolliver, director of wellness programs and the Wom- en’s and Gender Center at Marshall University; C. Michelle Alford, senior library IT consultant at Marshall University; and Kacy Lovelace, research and student success librarian at Marshall University. Tenikka Phillips, EAP coordinator at Cabell Huntington Hospital, worked extensively on the project but was unable to take part in the panel presentation. The following is a conversation between Sabrina Thomas and Kacy Lovelace discussing how their own personal experiences with mental health challenges and trauma served to enhance the mental health initiative in their academic library. Sabrina: Shame is a powerful motivator. Shame can work in a library, and librarians are master bridge builders, motivate one into years or even decades of silence. For connecting people to resources, people, information, and years, I struggled with my own shame from early child- ultimately, to a better place than they were before they hood trauma of abuse, neglect, and years spent shuffling started. from one foster home to the next. The abuse and trauma were so severe as to leave lingering mental health damages Kacy: Shame has always been a powerful motivator in my that still affect me today. It was shame that kept me silent life as well. Childhood trauma: abuse, emotional neglect, when I suffered from postpartum depression after the birth and being a pawn for my divorced parents’ power strug- of my first child. Shame and silence magnify suffering, gles, has led to a life-long struggle with mental illness, and it is this shame and silence that I wished to combat by low self-esteem, and an inability to connect with others as breaking free. deeply as I would like. There is one thing I have found to be more power- When we discuss trauma, we often talk about resil- ful than shame, and that is righteous indignation. Anger, iency as well. It is important to discuss our ability to too, can be a powerful motivator—and liberating when recover from the hardships that we face. I consider myself channeled properly. I am angry that I allowed the stigma incredibly resilient, with a resiliency score of fourteen on of mental health challenges and illness to keep me silent a fifteen-point scale; however, I am guilty of using that about my struggles for so long. Breaking free from my resiliency to hide my trauma. Because I could compart- own silence, I wanted to build a bridge to quality, credi- mentalize, and because I wanted to appear as “normal” ble information for those who were like me. Fortunately, I as possible, I acted as though the trauma never happened, JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM AND PRIVACY _ SUMMER 2019 3 Ending the Silence _ COMMENTARY even as its effects impacted my daily life and every type of While protecting anonymity, I fostered inclusivity by relationship that I’ve ever attempted to make. inviting panelists who experienced mental health chal- It wasn’t until I realized that speaking up about my lenges and illnesses to highlight both the good and the bad own trauma helped others feel safe enough to discuss their ways that these issues affected their lives. I did this spe- own, that I began to share my story. Becoming a librarian, cifically to foster an environment in which people could and working to build the mental health initiative in our speak freely without fear of judgment. Demonstrating that library and on our campus, not only gave me a sense that mental health challenges and adverse childhood experi- I was helping others cope, but it was instrumental in help- ences could be not just overcome but harnessed as tools to ing me cope with my own traumatic experiences. help others was one of my ultimate goals. Sabrina: Becoming trauma-informed is a solid first step Kacy: Creating the online research guide was an incred- to building a mental health initiative in your library. ibly rewarding process. It not only provided a dedicated Being trauma informed, libraries are uniquely situated to space for providing information about our discussion be safe spaces of intellectual freedom. A trauma informed panels and pertinent trainings, it continues to act as an library is a library in which the librarians and staff better ever-growing, centralized location for providing invalu- understand how to help and serve those library users who able resources for those in need. When we feel vulnerable, have mental health challenges, illnesses, and stresses. We it can be difficult to reach out for support. Vulnerability is can do this by harnessing what we already do well. not only healthy—it is crucial to healing past wounds and First, our walls and our displays can play a vital role in creating connections in our present and future. Allowing ensuring that the library is a welcome and inclusive place those within our university family to see our trauma and for all people, including those with mental health chal- our disabilities will only encourage them to do the same. lenges and illnesses. Creating a display of books on mental It is important to note that not everyone was enthusi- wellness is a solid first step. In spring of 2019, I created astic about all aspects of our initiative.