ALA Conference 2009: Hefner Lauds Librarians at Opening General Session
ALA Annual Conference: Former CEO of Playboy Enterprises praises librarians on privacy and IF; Krug, Josey honored; new push for Spectrum scholarships
Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 07/12/2009
- Krug, Josey, Doyle honored
- Hefner lauds librarians on privacy and IF
- Explains how Playboy "brand" changed
Perhaps the most meaningful moments at yesterday’s American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference Opening General Session came not from the polished and professional speaker, Christie Hefner, but the awarding of a posthumous Honorary Membership, ALA’s highest honor, to Judith Krug (via husband Herb, pictured right with Rettig), founder of the Office for Intellectual Freedom, who earned a standing ovation, and 
the moment of silence for pioneering activist E.J. Josey, both of whom died recently. Nonetheless, one veteran conference attendee observed that this was the most sparsely attended opening session in years.
ALA President Jim Rettig (right) announced a $1 million fundraising drive to bolster the Spectrum Scholarship program to enhance diversity among librarians, noting that it currently can support only half of those deserving support.
Also gaining cheers, especially from the plethora of area librarians, was Illinois Library Association executive director Robert Doyle, who earned a Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) Roll of Honor Award for his multiple efforts, including the fight against mandatory Internet filtering in Illinois and support for freedom of expression within the International Federation of Library Associations and Organizations (IFLA).
Enter Hefner
While some might have felt a few qualms about the appearance of Chicago native Hefner (left), notable for her 
work supporting freedom of expression as well as leading Playboy Enterprises (as cited in her introduction by Rettig), she took the stage to polite but mild applause.
Her speech, as with many at library conferences, seemed adapted from a standard lecture template at business conferences, with several nods to her audience. For 40 years, Hefner said, she’s had a chance to work with ALA and FTRF: “As a result, I have gotten to know many librarians. My experience with them has engendered the deepest respect for the individuals, the people, and the organization.”
Rather than shy away from discussing Playboy’s history, she drew on several (non-cheesecake) examples from the business. For the magazine’s 25th anniversary in 1979, Hefner, as director of promotion, helped launch the Playboy Jazz Festival.
(Photos by Chip Williams)
The First Amendment
Even more importantly, she said, Playboy bought at auction the papers of trial of John Peter Zenger—a pioneering freedom of expression case--and gave them to the Chicago Public Library. That led to the establishment of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards, to inform people about the ongoing battles being fought in the towns and cities across America, and “to highlight the heroes who were in the trenches.”
Several librarians have been honored, most recently Trina Magi, president of the Vermont Library Association, for fighting the USA PATRIOT Act.
Hefner praised Krug, calling her a “truly a national treasure” and saying she looked forward to the FTRF’s 40th Anniversary Gala that night, which honored Krug.
“For me, maybe it was more fun to go to Banned Book readings than to go to the Playboy Super Bowl party,” Hefner said, adding that, in a bit of synergy, a team of Playmates on the show Family Feud once won $12,000 and donated it to ALA
The Playboy brand
Hefner’s speech then segued into a discussion and defense of the Playboy brand. The magazine began in 1953, “financed by my father, mortgaging the furniture,” she recalled. It presaged and grew with enormous societal changes, from conformity and conservatism to a new notion of the family and the role of women in the workplace.
“Today, we just heard from the [Chicago] Gay Men’s Chorus,” she noted. “Six states have legalized same-sex marriage.” That got big applause.
“More than 40 percent of our executives were women,” Hefner said, explaining that it helped her be successful.
The triumph of platforms
The Internet “allows us to be both separate and connected,” Hefner said, offering “a diversity of ideas…. If we were ever a melting pot, we are now better described as a kaleidoscope.”
At Playboy, she said, executives came “to the conclusion that we wanted to be in the transportation business, not the railroad,” a company that could communicate “a certain lifestyle” across many different platforms.” That meant a move into television, then the Internet, then mobile services.
“So, from the beginning, we created content designed to be shared by men and women,” she asserted. “We could create programming for a bunch of lonely guys, but it wouldn’t be a very big business.” (That's open for debate.)
That led to a whole program of licensing products, worth a billion dollars. The major purchasers? “Principally to young women,” Hefner said. This generation, benefiting from both the women’s movement and the sexual revolution, “wanted to have it all… and also like dressing up and looking sexy on a Saturday night… and saw Playboy as a relevant, acceptable, accessible brand.”
The library angle
Is the Playboy story relevant to the library world? “You’re in a better position to answer that,” allowed Hefner, but she offered a few thoughts. Books will remain valuable as “a prestige artifact.” She said it may be possible for people to borrow books from libraries “the way I borrow movies from Netflix.”
Also, stretching a bit, she suggested libraries might be the place where people go to take advantage of “astonishing software” that allows instant translation and perhaps to access periodicals via new mini-purchase options. (Those, however, do not seem geared to institutional purchase.)
“Who can you partner with to make having and using a library card really cool?” she asked rhetorically.
Managing through rapid change, she said, requires tools librarians already have: intellectual curiosity, agility, and collaboration. She praised libraries for supporting intellectual freedom and privacy, and closed with an applause line: “I thank you for being fearless on behalf of the nation.”
She got a heartier reception at the end than at the beginning.
