MLA Connect Advocacy Hour: An Update from ALA on the Right to Read in America Thursday, January 19, 2023 10:00 - 11:00 AM Join MLA on Zoom next Thursday, January 19 at 10:00 AM for an update from the American Library Association (ALA) on national efforts to protect the right to read. Jon Martin from the ALA Chapter Relations Office and Joyce McIntosh from the Freedom to Read Foundation and the Office of Intellectual Freedom will join us to talk about activities of ALA to combat the censorship crisis and protect intellectual freedom. Advocacy Hour conversations are always free to attend but registration is required. Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pdO2grjktHdLBqJXeNz7-qSILAc-ZCwY... Guest Speakers Jon Martin is the program manager for the Chapter Relations Office of ALA. He supports ALA’s 57 state and territorial associations and over 60 student chapters. He also administers advocacy platforms used by state chapters. New to ALA with about a year of service, his background is in membership-based nonprofits with a focus on membership and funding growth. Joyce McIntosh is the Assistant Program Director for the Freedom to Read Foundation. She has worked at the intersection of intellectual freedom, communication, and the First Amendment for three decades. Her degrees in journalism (Michigan State University) and library and information science (Wayne State University) have led her to work for newspapers, non-profits, and for the last two decades in libraries. She worked in a public library before joining FTRF. Questions? Contact MLA@milibraries.org<mailto:MLA@milibraries.org> or (517) 394-2774. Hope to see you on Zoom! Rachel Rachel Ash Membership and Communications Director Michigan Library Association 3410 Belle Chase Way, Suite 100 Lansing, MI 48911 Phone: (517) 394-2774 ext. 2 Direct: 517-881-6652 *Please note new number milibraries.org rfash@milibraries.org<mailto:%0bmilibraries.org%0brfash@milibraries.org> Follow MLA on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/MichiganLibraryAssociation> and Twitter<https://twitter.com/mlaoffice>!