Missouri: “Kansas City Library Officials Defend Employee Arrested During Public Event”
UPDATE October 3, 2016 ALA President Julie Todaro Responds to Kansas City (Mo.) Public Library Free Speech Arrests
From The Kansas City Star:
Kansas City Public Library officials said Friday they are outraged that the city continues to pursue the prosecution of an employee and a patron arrested at a public event earlier this year.
The arrests occurred after a provocative question was asked at the question-and-answer period of a May 9 talk by diplomat Dennis Ross. For months, library officials protested that the arrests and charges were a violation of the First Amendment.
The library did not go public with its opposition until recently, with city prosecutors appearing determined to pursue charges.
Police have stood by the arrests, saying that off-duty officers hired by an event sponsor acted properly in helping private security stop an audience member from asking follow-up questions after a short exchange with Ross.
Read the Complete Article, View Video (approx. 1100 words)
Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Libraries, News, Public Libraries
About Gary Price
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area. He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit. Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com. Gary is also the co-founder of infoDJ an innovation research consultancy supporting corporate product and business model teams with just-in-time fact and insight finding.
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