Libraries & First Amendment Exhibit

Blackwell Library hosts "Libraries and the First Amendment," a new exhibit provided by the Chicago-based McCormick Freedom Museum, that explores the library’s role in enabling and protecting First Amendment freedoms. Libraries provide access to information about countless subjects to widely diverse audiences, making occasional controversy almost inevitable. They can be the setting for raucous controversy, especially relating to freedom of speech and the First Amendment. This exhibit, which runs through October, gets to the bottom of these issues by examining timeless and relevant topics that speak to all Americans. In addition to the main exhibit, which is composed of a display board of how the world would look if individuals lost their First Amendment rights, quotations from important leaders of our time on the importance of the First Amendment hanging throughout the building, and thought-provoking tabletop stands, a companion Web exhibit www.FreedomInLibraries.org invites online viewers to explore specific controversies, vote on key issues and add their voice to a larger, national discussion.