Intellectual Freedom in Crisis:
Moral Panics, Censorship, and the Cost to Library Workers
A Library 2.0 "Everyday Librarian" Webinar with Sonya Schryer Norris
OVERVIEW:
This webinar examines the current landscape of attacks on intellectual freedom and the impacts of coordinated censorship campaigns. We'll analyze the role of moral entrepreneurs, including organized advocacy groups and bad faith social media influencers.
We'll explore the historical context of how moral panics operate to limit access to reading materials and confine intellectual freedom. Understanding this history helps us respond more effectively in today’s environment.
The webinar covers legal threats facing libraries, including new state laws in Idaho, Missouri, Louisiana, and other states.
Finally, we'll address the human cost of this crisis: the occupational trauma and burnout facing library workers, including anticipatory anxiety and the disproportionate impact on marginalized staff.
LEARNING AGENDA:
- Understand the current landscape of challenges to intellectual freedom.
- Analyze the mechanisms of coordinated censorship campaigns.
- Compare how moral panics have operated to censor materials across four historical periods.
- Recognize the symptoms of occupational burnout and trauma faced by library staff.
The recording and presentation slides will be available to all who register.
DATE: Wednesday, January 14th, 2026, 12:00 - 1:00 pm US - Eastern Time
COST:
- $99/person - includes live attendance and any-time access to the recording and the presentation slides and receiving a participation certificate. To arrange group discounts (see below), to submit a purchase order, or for any registration difficulties or questions, email admin@library20.com.
TO REGISTER:
Use the payment box above to register and pay. You can pay by credit card. You will receive an email within a day with information on how to attend the webinar live and how you can access the permanent webinar recording. If you are paying for someone else to attend, you'll be prompted to send an email to admin@library20.com with the name and email address of the actual attendee.
If you need to be invoiced or pay by check, if you have any trouble registering for a webinar, or if you have any questions, please email admin@library20.com.
NOTE: please check your spam folder if you don't receive your confirmation email within a day.
SPECIAL GROUP RATES (email admin@library20.com to arrange):
- Multiple individual log-ins and access from the same organization paid together: $75 each for 3+ registrations, $65 each for 5+ registrations. Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
- The ability to show the webinar (live or recorded) to a group located in the same physical location or in the same virtual meeting from one log-in: $299.
- Large-scale institutional access for viewing with individual login capability: $499 (hosted either at Learning Revolution or in Niche Academy). Unlimited and non-expiring access for those log-ins.
ALL-ACCESS PASSES: This webinar is not a part of the Safe Library All-Access program.
Sonya Schryer Norris is a proud third-generation Michigan library worker. She has spent 26+ years in libraries and finds her greatest professional satisfaction in providing continuing education solutions for library staff. Sonya is a trainer and instructional designer with over two dozen online courses to her credit that have been adopted in all 50 states and internationally. Her articles have appeared in Computers in Libraries, Library Journal, The Other Journal at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology, and for Gale/Cengage. She developed the Plum Librarian consulting firm to help libraries get to What's Next for them.
