Director reports ILA conference takeaways: OER, censorship pressures, AI and advocacy priorities
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Summary
Library director and staff reported highlights from the Iowa Library Association conference, including concerns about growing national censorship efforts, reconsideration-policy options, open educational resources (OER) as collection supplements, and planning for digital literacy and AI awareness.
The Waverly Public Library director and staff summarized sessions and takeaways from the Iowa Library Association conference, highlighting national trends in challenges to library materials, strategies for reconsideration policies, the promise of open educational resources (OER), and ethical considerations around artificial intelligence.
The director and staff said 'The Librarians' documentary—screened at the conference—documents increased challenges and censorship efforts, especially in school libraries, and described instances where community debate threatened library operations. Conference speakers and attendees reported a rise in coordinated national efforts: the proportion of censorship attempts initiated by pressure groups and decision-makers rose substantially in recent years and a majority of challenges target books in public libraries.
Presenters at the conference described broadened reconsideration policies used by some systems (for displays, donations, meeting-room use and programs) and recommended that libraries keep clear records (for example, planned displays) as a defense against complaints. The Waverly staff discussed catalog age-suggestion fields and said they may remove publisher-suggested recommended ages in the catalog to leave selection choices to parents.
The delegation also described sessions on open educational resources (OER) and their potential to expand library offerings at low or no added cost, and sessions on advocacy that stressed the importance of persistent local engagement with legislators: conference speakers suggested that a small number of consistent, informed messages from constituents can influence lawmakers.
Staff also attended sessions on AI ethics and said the library will continue to monitor and pilot tools while maintaining a cautious approach to accuracy and use in patron services. Director and staff emphasized continuing work on digital literacy and possible programming for job-seekers and adult learners using OERs and other online resources.
The board heard staff affirmations about the professional value of conference networking and noted local interest items such as a storytime that drew 70 participants at an off-site event.