91´«Ã½

The Intellectual Freedom Round Table is seeking book nominations for the 2025 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award.

The award winner will be announced in the spring of 2025. A certificate of recognition and $500 cash award will be presented at the 2025 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The deadline for nominations is January 2, 2025.

The Oboler Award honors a literary work or series of works in the area of intellectual freedom. This can include matters of ethical, political, or social concerns related to intellectual freedom. The award recognizes journal articles in even number years (2022, 2024, etc.) and honors books in odd number years (2023, 2025, etc.).

Books for 2025 award consideration should have been published on the local, state, or national level in English or English translation in the 2023 or 2024 calendar years, through the end of December 2024.

The award was named for Eli M. Oboler, the extensively published Idaho State University librarian known as a champion of intellectual freedom who demanded the dismantling of all barriers to freedom of expression. The award, first offered biennially in 1986, has been awarded annually since 2022.

For more information on criteria of the award, past recipients, or to submit a nomination please visit the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award website.

Members of the Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award Committee are as follows: Chair Marisa Eytalis, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District; Johannah Genett, Hennepin County Library; Leila Green Little, University of North Texas SLIS; Annah Elizabeth Hackett, University of Texas at Austin; Cynthia Dudenhoffer, University of Missouri; Amanda Sand, Dubuque County Library District.

About the Intellectual Freedom Round Table

The provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the 91´«Ã½ in defense of intellectual freedom; promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of 91´«Ã½ policies on intellectual freedom. For more information, visit www.ala.org/rt/ifrt