(via the Freedom to Read Foundation)
Six people were elected to terms on the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Board of Trustees in the annual FTRF election held in April. Reelected to their second of two-year terms were Charles Brownstein, (Executive Director, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund), Mario M. Gonzalez (Executive Director of the Passaic Public Library in New Jersey, and past Treasurer of ALA), and Dr. Emily Knox (Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). Elected to their first two-year terms were Robert P. Holley (Professor Emeritus, Wayne State University), Katie Chamberlain Kritikos J.D. (Ph.D. Student, School of Information Studies R.A., Center for Information Policy Research University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), and Valerie Nye (Library Director at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.).
The six will join Kathy Ishizuka, Martin Garnar, Herbert Krug, and Candace Morgan to form the FTRF Board for 2017-2018, which will be seated at the end of the FTRF Annual Board meeting on June 22 in Chicago, IL. There will be four additional members of the board, who serve as a function of their positions at the American Library Association: Jim Neal, incoming ALA president, Loida Garcia-Febo, incoming ALA president-elect; Keith Michael Fiels, ALA Executive Director; and Helen Adams, incoming ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee chair. James LaRue serves as FTRF executive director and board secretary.
“Once again, the Freedom to Read Foundation board brings deep financial, professional, and marketing expertise to our work,” said LaRue. “We are grateful to have their counsel as we litigate, advocate, educate, and fundraise to defend the fundamental rights of free expression, privacy, and access to information.”