LFI 2025

Library Freedom Institute[edit]

Library Freedom Institute (LFI) is a training program for library workers focused on privacy, intellectual freedom, and critical technology. We teach librarians the skills necessary to support information democracy in the 21st Century; from educating community members, to installing privacy software, to influencing local policy.

General course information and resources[edit]

Code of Conduct
Discord for asynchronous discussion (link shared privately)
Mailing list and wiki for weekly curriculum
Zoom for weekly synchronous sessions (link shared privately)

Course structure[edit]

15 weeks and an in-person weekend
May 7 - August 13
Off weeks: Memorial Day week; Week of June 30th; Weeks before and after Philly
Weekend is July 25-27 in Philly
Weekly sessions are Wednesdays, 12-2 Pacific/1-4 Mountain/2-4 Central/3-5 Eastern on Zoom
Weekly discussion questions and readings
Final presentations (optional): During Philly weekend, sharing what you’ve learned, where you’re taking it. Either with a group or individually.

What to expect/what is expected of you[edit]

A generous and generative group to build community with, learn together, share ideas, experiences, and resources
A unique curriculum rooted in honest engagement with the world
Attend each weekly session
If you need to miss a session, please email in advance
Participate in weekly conversations
Zoom sessions will be a mix of lecture, large group discussions, and breakouts
Participate in asynch Discord convos
Complete weekly readings (amount will vary, but week 2 is the most by far)
Weekly topics are subject to change, sometimes wildly, based on group vibes, the world, and the prior week

Schedule and curriculum[edit]

Schedule overview[edit]

Week	Date and time	Topic	Lecturer
1	Wednesday May 7th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Introduction to this course and each other
2	Wednesday May 14th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	How we got here: internet and surveillance origins, ideologies, and logics
3	Wednesday May 21st, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Threat modeling and risk assessments, and beginning to examine the issues we face
4	Week of May 26th	Off week for Memorial Day
5	Wednesday June 4th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Technology for liberation, or at least just better passwords
6	Wednesday June 11th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Tech for liberation part two (or move on to messaging)
7	Wednesday June 18th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	What are we fighting for? Messaging and talking points to convince others what's at stake and what we need to do about it
8	Wednesday June 25th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Responsible data policies and practices, and vendor issues and data brokers
9	Week of June 30th	Off for July 4th week
10	Wednesday July 9th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	The AI hellscape
11	Wednesday July 16th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Intellectual freedom defense, and anti-doxxing
12	July 25 - 27 (please note - there is no meeting on Wednesday, July 23rd)	In-person weekend, Philadelphia, PA
13	Week of July 28th	Off week following in-person weekend
14	Wednesday August 6th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Did we miss anything? Policing, local surveillance, reproductive health and privacy, anti-doxxing, AI part two, social media/platformization/enshittification of everything
15	Wednesday August 13th, 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern	Closing week, and making information democracy into a sustainable long term practice