If you follow news about mass surveillance, you may have heard
about growing world of librarians fighting for Internet freedom.
Since Snowden's revelations in June 2013, librarian-activism in
defense of digital privacy and intellectual freedom has spread across the country.
Back in September, we wrote about our work with librarians in
Massachusetts, who began teaching digital security classes as a way to
introduce privacy-protecting tools to their patrons. That initiative became the
Library Freedom Project winning Knight Foundation funding
to expand the work to libraries nationwide.
People are taking note: the work LFP and other privacy-warrior
librarians has been covered on Boing Boing here
and here.
The movement has reached a fever pitch as
like-minded information professionals nationwide work to shape
the role libraries have in ensuring that our rights go with us
when we go online.
The Library Freedom Project is convening a
special event for librarians, technologists, and privacy activists to
strategize about initiatives to protect reader privacy, reform digital
lending, combat censorship, and champion access to information
technology in light of emerging concerns over government surveillance,
censorship, and other forms of electronic exploitation of personal data.
The two-day event
will take place on June 29th and 30th at San Francisco's iconic
Noisebridge hackerspace, and falls directly after the American Library
Association’s Annual Conference, which is also being held in San
Francisco this year. You’re invited, and it’s free to attend.
We'll have attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (who are leading lawsuits challenging the legality
of the National Security Agency's mass surveillance programs), along with experts on copyright and the future of digital
lending from Creative Commons and the Internet Archive. Technologists
from the Freedom of the Press Foundation (where Edward Snowden is a
board member) and Mozilla will be onsite providing in-depth
anti-surveillance technology training at the hackerspace. The event also
features librarians from a number of libraries, including the San
Francisco and Oakland Public Library systems, as well as Oakland-based
Hack the Hood, speaking on the challenges of providing access to
technology and training for Bay Area youth.
Librarians have long served on the front lines of information
activism and their communities' right to research. Whether providing
access to technology and the Internet, as well as free education, or by
standing firm for over a decade as staunch opponents
of the USA PATRIOT Act, librarians are at the grassroots of the internet
freedom debate and are uniquely plugged into serving the information
needs of local communities, especially those lacking technological or
financial resources. Digital Rights in Libraries will foster a
conversation between these amazing librarian-activists and the larger
community fighting to protect our rights online.
Whether you're a librarian, technologist, a privacy activist, or just
interested in joining us for this special event, make sure to register
on our secure signup platform here.
We'll see you at the end of June!
What: "Digital Rights in Libraries"
Date: June 29-30, 2015
Where: Noisebridge hackerspace, 2169 Mission St.; San Francisco
Contact:
