Greenwich Library, CT, Rescinds Permission for Pro-Palestinian Speaker, Then Reverses Course
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 2/14/2008
- Cites offense “to public sensitivity”
- ALA warns about initial decision
- Presentations moved to larger venue
After significant criticism, including from the American Library Association, the Greenwich Library , CT, reversed its decision to cancel two talks by a pro-Palestinian speaker, Alison Weir. The library’s meeting room was booked by a local resident who belongs to Weir’s group If Americans Knew, which argues that the American media and American foreign policy are unfairly tilted toward Israel—and itself has been the subject of fierce criticism.
After an advertisement promoting Weir’s presentations was published February 8 in the Greenwich Time, some residents complained, Board of Trustees President Roberta Denning told the newspaper, adding that the board and the administration agreed that the two talks would be "offensive to public sensitivity." She would not 
provide specifics about the library’s concerns. Greenwich resident John McGillion, who had booked the conference room, told the newspaper, "The idea that we can't speak our point of view as opposed to the common point of view that's perpetrated by the American media is outrageous."
Library Director Mario Gonzalez told the Time that officials had heard complaints about why the library had selected such a speaker: "And that really concerns me because we did not book this program." However, Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's (ALA) Office for Intellectual Freedom, pointed out that, when libraries provide meeting room space, they can’t engage in viewpoint discrimination, as noted in the ALA’s Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights regarding meeting rooms.
On February 12, supporters of Weir placed an advertisement in the Time, charging, "Greenwich Library Censors Free Speech." Weir appeared at the Greenwich Library on February 13 for meetings with library officials, who were also consulting lawyers. After that, the Time reported, the library decided to reverse course "after consulting with independent First Amendment counsel," according to trustee David Brownwood. Given the local controversy, Weir’s presentations, which are tonight and Saturday, were moved from a meeting room that holds about 80 people to the 368-seat Cole Auditorium.
