|
|
|
CUBAN LIBRARIES
AND FREEDOM OF INQUIRY
January 2, 2004
SUMMARYThe Society of Academic Authors added its voice to the call for librarians in the United States, through their American Library Association, to encourage the restoration of free libraries in Cuba and the liberation of the jailed librarians who set them up.
Society of Academic Authors
January 2, 2004
Dr. Nancy Kranich
American Library Association
Dear Dr. Kranisch:
Academic authors, like librarians, are committed to freedom of inquiry. It is my hope, on behalf of the Society of Academic Authors, that the American Library Association takes a firm position at its upcoming winter meeting against practices of the Cuban government to suppress the open library movement.
Abuses of freedom of inquiry in Cuba are well documented, as you know. Shipments of books addressed to volunteer libraries, including academic and textbooks, have been confiscated by government agents. There have been book burnings. Volunteers who staffed these libraries have been jailed, in at least one case to a 26-year sentence after a quick trial.
Consistent with its historic commitment to free inquiry, the American Library Association must strongly condemn the repression of Cuba's independent librarians, call for their immediate release from prison, and insist on the return or replacement all the books confiscated from their libraries.
It is our understanding that some members of your association's Intellectual Freedom Committee are hesitant about defending these librarians, many of whom are not credentialed in the sense we do in the United States. This is not a principled response, if I may say. The issue is intellectual freedom and opposition to censorship, bookburning and human rights.
Academic authors are looking forward to reading good news on this issue from your meeting in San Diego.
Sincerely,
John Vivian, Founder
Society of Academic Authors
|
|
|
YOUR
VIEWS
The Society of Academic Authors invites members to comment on authoring issues:
SA2 |
|
