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Chapter Topics ~ Spring 2024

Professional Development

Georgia Library Association Focuses on Member Value

The Georgia Library Association is focusing on member value this year, and the Academic Library Division is offering several events throughout the year that strive to provide valuable learning opportunities for our members. We are limiting access to these events to our members, unlike our approach with the popular GLA Carterette webinars, which are open to the public. We decided on several formats.

Four Ask-An-Expert events to both give our members a chance to share their expertise and, in turn, give our members a chance to learn from one another. We had Georgia State University Librarian Denise George presenting and taking questions on Creative Commons in March. Emory University’s Kimberly Powell presents in May on A-Z: Making a Writing Plan That Works. Later in the year, we will have a session on Universal Design from Derek Otis from Oglethorpe University and, finally, an expert session on Harmful Language Remediation from Emory’s Sofia Slutskaya.

We are planning two group viewings of ACRL Webinars to provide some in-person learning and networking opportunities outside of our annual conference. These will be held in several locations around the state. The first will be the ACRL webinar Making Connections: Strategies for Effective, Engaging One-shot Library Lessons on June 12.

Finally, we are planning two virtual one-day conferences. First, we are co-hosting the Georgia Library Instruction, Teaching, and Reference (GLITR) Conference with the GLA Reference and Instruction Interest Group on June 14. Later in the year, we will offer a best-of recap highlighting sessions presented by Georgia librarians at other conferences throughout the year.


Highlighting Intellectual Freedom: Insights from ACRL-MD's Spring Program

As book bannings increase across public and school libraries, academic libraries must also confront this threat to intellectual freedom. To address this, the Maryland chapter of ACRL hosted “Intellectual Freedom in Academic Libraries and Beyond: Concrete Steps to Combat Censorship” on April 17, 2024. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Shannon M. Oltmann, associate professor at the University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science, and author of “Practicing Intellectual Freedom in Libraries” from Libraries Unlimited Press. Dr. Oltmann discussed the ripple effects of current censorship challenges on academic libraries and proposed strategies for support across library types. She closed her talk with a list of ways that academic librarians can support our colleagues in public and school libraries. The keynote talk was followed by small discussion groups that invited attendees to participate in the conversation about intellectual freedom issues in academic libraries. Our discussion group leaders included members of the Library Freedom Project and topics such as “Surveillance and Privacy in Academic Libraries: Balancing Security and Freedom” and “Targeted Harassment, Doxing Campaigns, and Threats Against Intellectual Freedom.”

For those who missed it, a recording of Dr. Oltmann’s talk is available at ACRL-MD’s website: acrlmd.wordpress.com.

Spring 2024

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Chapters Council Roster

Eric Edwards
Eric Edwards
Chair


Leslin Charles
Leslin Charles
Vice Chair



Sarah McHone-Chase
Secretary


Paula Martin
List Administrator



Amber Willenborg
Editor / LibGuide Administrator



Lauren Carlton
Staff Liaison


Aleah Price
Staff Liaison


Laura Hall
Legislation Representative