LFI 2025/Week 1

Week 1: Introduction

• Real time lecture Wednesday May 7th, from 12-2 pacific/ 1-3 mountain/ 2-4 central/ 3-5 eastern
• Zoom link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9129428892

• Welcome everyone! We’re so thrilled to be starting Library Freedom Institute with such an excellent cohort! This week, we’ll be getting acquainted with the course, including curriculum, technology, goals, and each other.

Course overview

Course themes

• Surveillance and capitalism: politics, ideology, and money behind technologies
• Privacy and intellectual freedom in an environment of increasing repression
• Privacy strategies and tools with a harm reduction lens
• Individual and collective action for speech and privacy
• Building power in and through libraries

Syllabus and weekly layout

• This course is 15 weeks with 2 hours each week of real-time discussion. There are a few off weeks built into the schedule to accommodate holidays.
• Weekly commitments: weekly real-time discussion, Discord conversations, readings
• Weekly meetings are a mix of lecture and discussion, so please be ready to participate each week!
• In-person weekend July 25-27 in Philly (agenda to come)
• There aren’t other assignments except for the optional final project, which you'd present about in Philly. We’ll check in halfway through about the status of those projects, and when that happens you can share drafts or just outlines or thoughts.
• Let us know if you need to be absent from one of the real-time lectures for any reason.
• Review code of conduct.

Class technology

• Discord channel for discussion
• Zoom video/audio chat/recordings (Zoom meeting ID 912-942-8892)
• Riseup mailing list for general updates and weekly course materials share: lfi-2025@lists.riseup.net
• Wiki: libraryfreedom.wiki (course materials)
• Vimeo archive of lectures: https://vimeo.com/libraryfreedominstitute

Please note that all class technology (with the exception of Discord) is publicly accessible! That means that the mailing list archives and wiki can all be viewed by others. We’ve set it up this way so that the materials we create can easily be shared.

Outcomes for this cohort

• Promote stronger privacy and intellectual freedom within your library, or among other library workers or community members.
• Learn to use privacy software that can be installed on patron machines or library workstations.
• Approach members of your community regarding privacy concerns and teach privacy-related community workshops, and encourage community engagement with these issues.
• Use your new role as a Privacy Advocate to influence policy and infrastructure.

Final presentations

While we're in Philly together, everyone will have the opportunity to talk about what they've learned and what they want to take from LFI. Lots of people use this time to talk about what they want to implement in their libraries. You can do this solo, or we can help you form a small group of others who are thinking along the same lines. Here are some examples of what people opt to do after LFI (but you should do what you want).

• A privacy class for a specific audience
• A privacy program that isn't a class
• A display about privacy or intellectual freedom
• A flyer or poster about a privacy concept
• A staff training on privacy or intellectual freedom
• Something focused on privacy work outside of the library walls, like a letter to a legislator

Readings

No readings for week 1

Guest lecturer

No guest this week; Alison will lead the lecture

Tasks

No tasks for week 1