EUGENE VOLOKH has the latest in the Ohio State University harassment debacle. The University has done the right thing; if I were the librarian, however, I’d consider suing the faculty members who made the obviously-ridiculous complaint. Furthermore, if I were their colleagues I’d be rather unhappy with them for embarrassing the entire University with a silly (and thuggish) stunt.

Did the American Library Association ever get involved, defending the ability of librarians to make recommendations without fear of intimidation? Just wondering.

UPDATE: Apparently not. Librarian-reader Maureen Lynch emails:

I’m a Librarian & a former member of the American Library Association. Stress FORMER. Sadly, they are an extremely political organization (guess which way they lean?) who rarely, if ever, side with Librarians who are perceived as conservative. This is an organization that has had Molly Ivins speak as a keynote speaker, which should tell you something about their leanings. Considering the ALA has a large Gay specialty group , there’s no way they would take his side. I used to attend their annual meetings until I got tired of their perennial Republican- & business-bashing & long ago dropped my membership. Because so many of us who are corporate Librarians & tired of ALA’s nonsense have left the organization, it is dominated by hate-filled lefties with an agenda.

The politicization of professional associations over the past few decades has done real harm. Sounds like this is another example.