Free Speech Needs Free Libraries: Censorship in Libraries and Academic Spaces

During this time of attacks on freedom of expression, libraries matter more than ever. Join us on April 16, 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time / 1:00 p.m. Central Time / 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time to find out more about the legal and social context for censorship in libraries. Theresa Chmara and Dr. Emily Knox will discuss the legal history of censorship, the legal landscape today, why people censor, and how to respond. 

This webinar is the first of the Free Speech Needs Free Libraries series developed by CARLI, Orbis Cascade Alliance, and PALCI in support of our joint statement "Free Speech Needs Free Libraries."

Register to attend!

Do you have censorship-related questions you would like to share with the presenters in advance of this webinar? If so, please email them to CARLI Support prior to April 2. 

Presenters:

Theresa Chmara is an attorney in Washington, D.C. She also is the General Counsel of the Freedom to Read Foundation. She is the author of Privacy and Confidentiality Issues: A Guide for Libraries and their Lawyers (ALA 2009). She has been a First Amendment lawyer for over thirty-five years and is a frequent speaker on intellectual freedom issues in libraries. She also served as an instructor for the Lawyers for Libraries training seminars, Law for Librarians training seminars, and as an instructor for the American Library Association First Amendment and Library Services E-Course.

Dr. Emily Knox is interim dean and professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include information access and intellectual freedom and censorship. She is a member of the Mapping Information Access research team. The second edition of her book, Book Banning in 21st Century America (Bloomsbury), was published in January 2026. Her previous book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman) won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom.  She has been interviewed by media outlets such as NPR and the New York Times and also testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on book banning. Emily previously served on the boards of the National Coalition Against Censorship, the Freedom to Read Foundation, and is a former editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy. She received her PhD from the doctoral program at the Rutgers University School of Communication & Information.