Many of you may not know who Judith Krug was but she was very important to your local library. She led the campaign by libraries against efforts to ban books and helped to found Banned Books Week. She also fought for laws and regulations to limit children's access to the Internet. Judith died April 15th due to stomach cancer at age 69.
She was the American Library Association's official proponent of the First Amendent's guarantee of free speech and fought the banning of books. She believed library service should be based on the concept of intellectual freedom and of "providing all pertinent information so a reader can make a decision for himself."
Ms. Krug became a leader in fighting censorship on the Internet, an issue taken up by libraries because many people with no computers at home use library computers. More recently, Ms. Krug fiercely fought a provision in the USA Patriot Act that allows federal investigators to pursue library records of who has read what. Through her unwavering support of writers, teachers, librarians, and above all, students, she advised countless numbers of librarians and trustees in dealing with challenges to library material.
Ms. Krug received the William J. Brennan Jr. Award earlier this year for her "remarkable commitment to the marriage of open books and open minds". She was only the fifth person to receive this award since 1993. The award recognizes a person or group that demonstrates a commitment to the principles of free expression followed by the late U.s. Supreme Court Justice.
Compiled from the NY Times and American Library Assocation
Susan
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