In many areas of the world today, citizens are taking serious risks to speak out against their government. People have been imprisoned, even killed, for daring to speak up. Despite the danger, the protests continue.
In the United States, it can be easy to take our right to freedom of speech for granted. The US constitution guarantees our rights. Oregon's sometimes controversial constitution is even more liberal when it comes to freedom of expression.
It's safe and legal to express yourself in public in Oregon, but that doesn't mean it's easy. And it's not just the big political arena where this is true. It's also true within our professional organization, the Oregon Library Association.
At the annual OLA conference a couple of weeks ago, the membership voted on a number of changes to the by-laws.
