Join Us For Activism in a Time of Turbulence

Sunday, May 28, 2017
4:30 p.m.–5:25 p.m.

Librarians have a long history of advocating for openness, transparency, and access to high-quality research. When the current administration began restricting public communications by imposing rules that restrict the use of social media and interactions with the press by the Environmental Protection Agency and departments such as Health and Human Services, and Agriculture, members of the Medical Library Association (MLA) became concerned.¹

In fact, our neighbors to the north in Canada experienced a similar assault on science but came together as a community to save research, fought back, and garnered public support. With so much uncertainty over the federal government’s science policies, MLA leads the call to preserve public access to information.

Please join us in a special plenary open forum session sponsored by MLA’s Governmental Relations Committee (GRC) to discuss how MLA as an organization and you as members can affect government decision-making in the area of health information. The discussion will be moderated by GRC Chair Cristina Pope, AHIP, with two distinguished panelists:

• Katie Gibbs is a cofounder and executive director of Evidence for Democracy, a national, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that promotes science integrity and the transparent use of evidence in government decision making. She has a diverse background organizing and managing various causes and campaigns. Gibbs is frequently asked to comment on science policy issues and has been quoted and published in numerous media outlets, including the Guardian, Science, Nature, and the CBC.

• M.J. Tooey, AHIP, FMLA, was president of MLA in 2005/06, is a member of the MLA/Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) Joint Legislative Task Force, was a member of the MLA Futures Task Force, and led the Vital Pathways Project, which identified directions for hospital librarians to prove their worth. She has had extensive experience furthering MLA’s legislative priorities at the grassroots and federal levels, meeting with congressional leaders during the Joint MLA/AAHSL Legislative Task Force’s annual Capitol Hill Day.

Audience participation will be encouraged.

Note: MLA will organize online open forums in June and July to ensure that members can contribute their thoughts to topics that were previously scheduled. Please watch MLANET for up-to-date information.

Take advantage of early bird rates until Wednesday, April 19. Register Now!

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¹Teresa L. Knott, AHIP, MLA president, VCU News statement, February 14, 2017