As announced in 2022, BCLA will be undertaking a comprehensive, thoughtful review of our Intellectual Freedom Statement. The Board knows this is an important topic for our sector, and that our members are looking to BCLA for support and opportunities for learning and engagement about intellectual freedom.
BCLA is restructuring the Intellectual Freedom Committee to support the review of the BCLA Intellectual Freedom Statement. The Board appreciates Deb Thomas and Wendy Wright for their co-chairing of the Intellectual Freedom Committee in recent years. In recognition of their commitment and service, Deb and Wendy have been invited to serve as members of the newly restructured Committee.
We are seeking 5 additional BCLA members to serve on the new Intellectual Freedom Committee, representing different kinds of libraries as well as a variety of professional and personal lived experiences and perspectives.
The BCLA Board will be represented on the Committee by Tracey Therrien, President; Suzanne Rackover, Incoming President; and Sarah Felkar, Treasurer. Suzanne Rackover has been appointed as committee co-chair by the Board; the other committee co-chair will be selected from among the member representatives by the Committee.
This will be a working committee which will meet monthly and require members to do additional work outside of the meetings. The expected time commitment is approximately 4 hours per month including meetings, although that could increase depending on the approach the Committee takes. The Committee’s work is expected to take at least 2 years, with meetings beginning in spring of 2024.
This work is vital, but we also recognize it will be difficult. The Committee will work with a professional facilitator to help establish and maintain our ways of working together. The Committee will be engaging on challenging issues and will not necessarily be able to reach agreement or consensus in all situations, but we are committed to building and maintaining a healthy dynamic within the Committee.
If you are interested in being considered for the Committee, please review the revised terms of reference for the Committee for additional information and consider submitting an expression of interest. Please contact Rina Hadziev, BCLA’s Executive Director, if you have any questions or require an accommodation at any point in the expression of interest process.
We will be accepting expressions of interest until midnight on February 12, 2024. The Board Executive will review all submissions and a response will be sent to all volunteers by early March. The committee members will be announced on the forum and BCLA website in mid-March. We will provide an update if there is any change to the expected timeline.
Please reach out to Rina Hadziev, BCLA’s Executive Director, with any questions, or contact us via the BCLA President’s email.
With thanks,
Tracey Therrien, BCLA President 2023-2025, and Suzanne Rackover, BCLA Incoming President