Banned Books and Beyond: Current Censorship Controversies (Hosted by Kent Memorial Library)
Date: 09/18/2022
Time: 3:00 pm-4:00 pm
Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 3 p.m.
Town Hall, Kent CT
First Amendment protections and intellectual freedom are for everyone. Join Nadine Strossen and
Olivia Scully, moderated by Kent Memorial Library Board President Sandy Edelman, as they discuss
current censorship issues in our country and locally.
New York Law School Professor Emerita Nadine Strossen, past national President of the American
Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008), is a leading expert and frequent speaker/media commentator on
constitutional law and civil liberties, who has testified before Congress on multiple occasions. She
serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Foundation for Individual
Rights in Education (FIRE), Heterodox Academy, and National Coalition Against Censorship. The
National Law Journal has named Strossen one of America’s "100 Most Influential Lawyers.” Her 2018
book HATE: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship was selected by Washington
University as its 2019 “Common Read.”
Through the course of her 11+ years working in Connecticut libraries, Olivia Scully’s greatest
passion has been the intersection of social justice and intellectual freedom. A long-standing member of
the Connecticut Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, Olivia also serves as a Co-
Chair of CLA’s Legislative Committee, and previously served as inaugural chair of its Equity,
Diversity, & Inclusion Section. Alongside colleagues, she was honored to receive CLA’s 2022
Intellectual Freedom Award for their panel presentation: Dr. Seuss, Collection Management,
Antiracism. As Bibliomation’s Help Desk Coordinator, Olivia provides support to 70+ consortium
member libraries. She holds her M.S. in Library & Information Sciences from University at
Buffalo, and her M.Ed. from Widener University. Trained in human sexuality education, she brings a
unique perspective to library services, literacies, and other surprisingly sensitive topics.
This event is free and open to the public. Please register here.
Kent Memorial Library provides a center for collaborative engagement, education and enrichment for
the greater Kent community. Kent Memorial Library is located at 32 North Main Street, Kent,
Connecticut, 860-927-3761.
Visit kentmemoriallibrary.org for more information.