Why the Smithsonian Adopted a New Policy on Ethical Collecting; Smithsonian Magazine, June 2022

Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Magazine; Why the Smithsonian Adopted a New Policy on Ethical Collecting

For more than a century, museum artifacts were acquired in ways we no longer find acceptable. How can we repair the damage?

"In 2021, the Smithsonian asked a group of collections specialists and curators to examine how to make ethical concerns central to our ongoing stewardship of Smithsonian collections. The group’s recommendations, with overwhelming support from the collections community, went into effect at the end of April. The new policy authorizes our museums to enter arrangements to share authority, expertise and responsibility for objects’ care and return certain objects based on how and under what circumstances they were acquired. Unethical acquisition could include an object having been stolen, taken under duress or removed without the owner’s consent.

The first return under consideration is a set of objects dating from the 13th century removed by the British during an 1897 raid of Benin City in what is now the nation of Nigeria. These artifacts, known as the Benin bronzes, were donated to or acquired by numerous museums over the years, including the National Museum of African Art. Of the 39 pieces in its collection, 29 have been confirmed or determined likely to have been looted, and pending approval by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, will be returned to the Nigerian government."

Some parents want action, but school guidance on Utah’s book ban law is still murky; KUER 90.1, May 20, 2022

Jon Reed, KUER 90.1; Some parents want action, but school guidance on Utah’s book ban law is still murky

"Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson sent a letter to the Utah State Board of Education Wednesday to urge education officials to “take initiative” against school districts refusing to comply with a new state law banning “sensitive materials” in schools.

While not naming specific districts, Wilson told KUER that he’s received reports of schools knowingly disregarding the law as well as input from parents on whether certain materials are inappropriate and should be removed.

“When we have clearly pornographic materials in our school libraries, it needs to come out and it needs to come out quickly,” he said. ”This is not an imaginary issue.”

School districts have long had policies for how to address requests to review and remove materials. But the law sets new standards about what material is considered pornographic or indecent, according to a memo from the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.

The memo contradicted previous guidance from the Utah Attorney General. OLRGC also noted the AG’s office overstated U.S. Supreme Court precedent on when the removal of a book from a school library violates a student’s First Amendment rights.

Norman Emerson, president of the Utah Library Media Supervisors, said districts are working to update their policies to be in compliance with state law. Some had waited until more guidance was issued, including direction from USBE that is still forthcoming. In a letter addressed to Speaker Wilson, the board noted districts are already required to have a reconsideration process for library materials but also said it is working toward creating a “model policy” that can be used as a template."

Wake County Library Makes It Harder to Ban Books; IndyWeek, March 16, 2022

 Jasmine Gallup, IndyWeek; Wake County Library Makes It Harder to Ban Books

"Wake County’s Community Services program manager Frank Cope replied that if a book was challenged on the grounds of “obscenity” or another First Amendment concern, the library would consult the county attorney’s office. Leaders plan to add a provision to the policy clarifying how and when a lawyer will be involved in book challenges.

The American Library Association advises that libraries have a lawyer on retainer to consult on legal issues, Caldwell-Stone says. But there are some potential snags in using the county attorney to fill that role.

“There’s a conflict of interest, especially when there are elected officials arguing a book should be pulled and you have the county attorney make a decision,” Caldwell-Stone says. “It should be independent legal counsel that doesn’t also represent the police department and the county government.”"

DCPL to rework its policy for naming spaces after donors; NPR, February 11, 2022

Martin Austermuhle, NPR ; DCPL to rework its policy for naming spaces after donors

"The director of the D.C. Public Library told the D.C. Council on Wednesday that he plans to rework the policy that allows DCPL to unilaterally name interior places and spaces after donors. DCPL Director Richard Reyes-Gavilan also apologized for a recent dustup over his recommendation to name an auditorium in the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos...

In 2019, the board approved a "Naming Policy for D.C. Public Library Spaces and Programs" that spells out when interior and exterior spaces of libraries can be named after specific people, notably staff members or distinguished people who offered "extraordinary service" to the library system, or donors "who have made a significant financial contribution to the library." The policy does call for a "due diligence review" of any proposed renaming, including "whether the name is and will continue to be a positive reflection on the library.""

Updating the Academic Library Code of Conduct for Modern Times | From the Bell Tower; Library Journal, September 12, 2019

Steven Bell, Library Journal; Updating the Academic Library Code of Conduct for Modern Times | From the Bell Tower

"Once the new community standards are complete, consider posting them in a visible public space to communicate transparency about the policy. Be thoughtful in establishing standards that truly reflect the needs and interests of community members, but are equally well designed to provide the secure learning, research, and innovation spaces that students, faculty, staff, alumni, and nonaffiliated library guests expect and deserve from the campus library."

OIF Responds to Library Bill of Rights Meeting Room Amendment; American Libraries, July 10, 2018

American Libraries;

OIF Responds to Library Bill of Rights Meeting Room Amendment

 

"“As cited in the interpretation, there are two prominent cases addressing public library meeting rooms. One involved religion. One involved a white supremacist group. In both cases, the library prohibiting the groups use of space lost lawsuits and were forced to change their policies.

“The Library Bill of Rights Meeting Room amendment should serve as a catalyst for library staff to review or establish policies with assistance from their legal counsel. We encourage libraries to adopt policies that govern meeting space use while meeting the needs of the community that they serve."

Hillary Clinton, Burns Strider, and the Fault Lines of #MeToo; The Atlantic, January 26, 2018

Megan Garber, The Atlantic; Hillary Clinton, Burns Strider, and the Fault Lines of #MeToo

"The Times story paints a picture of a Hillary Clinton who is, given her history, both a recipient of harassment and a passive enabler of it. A manager, in other words, like so many of the others who have been revealed in the journalism of the post-Weinstein months: one who learns of an accusation of harassment and addresses it by disrupting the life of the alleged victim, rather than the life of the alleged perpetrator. The boss who found enough evidence of Burns Strider’s wrongdoing to dock his pay and put him in counseling … but who kept him on staff—with all its many other young women—nonetheless. Here is Clinton serving, yet again, as a rich metaphor—this time, though, for complacency and complicity. For powerful people who are concerned, but not concerned enough.

And also: for managers who meet the humanity at the heart of harassment allegations with the clinical language of corporate callousness. It’s unsurprising, perhaps, but notable nonetheless that Clinton responded to the Times’ reporting with a statement that was many steps removed from Clinton, the person: It was written by Utrecht, Kleinfeld, Fiori, Partners, the law firm that had represented the campaign in 2008 (and that, the Times puts it, has “been involved on sexual harassment issues”). The statement was delivered, from there, through an unnamed Clinton spokesman. “To ensure a safe working environment,” it read, “the campaign had a process to address complaints of misconduct or harassment. When matters arose, they were reviewed in accordance with these policies, and appropriate action was taken. This complaint was no exception.”

So while it was Clinton, the manager, the Times report goes, who made the decision to keep Strider on her team, Clinton, the manager, is notably absent from today’s explanation of things. She has outsourced her own decision-making, it seems, to discussions of process and policies—the same anonymous structures that so many other managers have relied on for legal, and moral, insulation. What were the “processes” that kept Strider in his job and his accuser out of hers? You are not supposed to ask. “Processes” are meant to be the answers to their own questions. So are “policies.” Corporations-as-people, if you’d like, but the framework falls apart when organizations are able to deny that humanity as soon as it becomes a liability."