With only a few days left until the start of Choose Privacy Week (May 2-8), we want to encourage as many individuals and libraries as possible to participate! A new tool that makes this easy for teachers and librarians is the “Computers and Privacy Word Search” (download PDF here).

Developed by librarian and intellectual freedom advocate Gail Weymouth, the word search provides a simple way for libraries to take part in Choose Privacy Week. Simply print the one-page PDF and make it available at the circulation desk or other access point in the library! Or use it as part of a library program that explores some of the terms included. The word search can help create a “teachable moment” for library users who may be unfamiliar with terms like phishing, encryption, and spyware. Libraries are the perfect places for people to learn more about these important issues!

How are you celebrating Choose Privacy Week in your library or community? Let us know at oif@ala.org .
http://www.privacyrevolution.org/index.php/comments/word_search_on_computers_and_privacy_now_available/

At its Midwinter Meeting in January, the Freedom to Read Foundation Board of Trustees voted to extend the offer of a free one-year membership for new library school graduates to those who graduate in the spring or summer of 2010.

Here’s how it works: AFTER YOU GRADUATE, visit www.ftrf.org/graduates and fill out the form, with a signature authorizing FTRF to confirm your status with your school.  Then email, fax, or mail it to the Freedom to Read Foundation headquarters.  You have three months after your graduation date to send in the form.

If you’re a student who won’t be graduating soon – you’re still in luck!  Student membership to the Freedom to Read Foundation is only $10 per year.  Join here! (And if you’re already a member of the Foundation, you still qualify for the free year upon your graduation.)  FTRF members receive the quarterly FTRF News, the right to vote in FTRF elections, and invitations to special events.  Most importantly, FTRF members help the organization protect and defend freedom of expression and access to information.

http://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=959

ALA News | April 22, 2010

CHICAGO – The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) is offering its third annual Springboard Event from 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CDT on May 5, 2010. The ACRL Springboard Event is a live, interactive Webcast offered free of charge to all ACRL members. The 2010 ACRL Springboard Event will feature John Palfrey, Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law, and vice dean, Library and Information Resources, Harvard Law School, and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

There is no registration fee for this member event, but ACRL members should register online at www.acrl.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/events/springboard.cfm by Monday, May 3 to confirm their space in the Webcast. 

From the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom:

http://www.privacyrevolution.org/index.php/comments/sample_privacy_lesson_plans_now_available/
Sample privacy lesson plans now available

Choose Privacy Week begins on May 2, 2010!  If your community would like to participate but hasn’t planned anything yet, it’s not too late! ALA is offering numerous resources for you to take part, including sample lesson plans now available for free download.

Four sample school library lessons from the Choose Privacy Week Resource Guide are now freely available for download! Click here to download a PDF containing sample lesson plans for grades K-2, grades 3-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12.

In addition, ALA will release a fantastic video on May 1st, just in time for Choose Privacy Week! We hope that libraries and others will share the video online and host events to discuss the issues it raises. In addition to “man on the street” interviews, the finished video will feature individuals like Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, and ALA President Camila Alire discussing privacy. Click here to view a short trailer introducing this film.

Finally, please let us know how you will be celebrating Choose Privacy Week in your community! Visit our Events page for ideas on what’s happening elsewhere around the country, and contact us at oif@ala.org to share your own ideas and success.