Friday marked the end of the annual Iowa Library Association conference, held at the Coralville Convention Center. As a member of the ILA Board of Directors, I was hopping from the opening on Weds. to the final bell on Friday afternoon. The conference this year had a focus on intellectual freedom that I found incredibly satisfying. Intellectual freedom, based on the First Amendment to the Constitution, refers to freedom of inquiry, thought, and certainly the freedom to read. Our keynote speaker was young adult author, and frequent victim of would-be censors, Chris Crutcher. He has power tales to tell and is an incredible champion of intellectual freedom. Later in the conference I presented a session for librarians on dealing with attempts at censorship: how to deflect them, and what to do when the censor comes knocking. It was a standing room only crowd and we had a great time while working with a serious message: there's always somebody out there who's more than willing to tell you what you can read, watch, or, ultimately, think. This is an issue I'm passionate about, and I believe we have to fight censorship tooth and nail. I hope I inspired a few people likewise.

On the Campaign Trail:

This afternoon a group of volunteers and I set forth on the Charge of the Wright Brigade. We fanned out over the neighborhoods along and south of Kirkwood Ave. By 5 PM we'd visited nearly 500 homes! Our reception was very positive, and I was even stopped on the street to discuss the election. I was elated! This type of one-on-one interaction is fun for me, and valuable too: I always learn a lot about what's on people's minds. It also turned into a beautiful afternoon to be out walking around.