Assistant Professor Emily Knox is the 2015 recipient of the Illinois Library Association (ILA) Intellectual Freedom Award. The award, presented by the ILA Intellectual Freedom Committee, recognizes an individual or group for outstanding contributions in defending intellectual freedom or the advancement of these principles. The award is sponsored by Quality Books Inc. (QBI).
With research interests in intellectual freedom and censorship, print culture and reading practices, and information ethics and policy, Knox is a prolific author of articles and book chapters. She recently published her second book, Book Banning in 21st Century America, the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars Series. She is also a popular speaker, presenting at conferences both in the United States and abroad.
This fall, Knox enters her fourth year teaching courses such as Information Organization and Access and Intellectual Freedom and Censorship. Intellectual Freedom and Censorship allows students to examine these issues throughout the U.S. and worldwide and to develop the skills needed to navigate censorship controversies in the workplace. Additionally, through a partnership with the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), FTRF staff and volunteers will lend their expertise as guest speakers, and FTRF and ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom archival materials will be made available to students.
Knox received her PhD from Rutgers University School of Communication & Information. She received her MS in library and information science is from GSLIS. She also holds a BA in religious studies from Smith College and an AM in the same field from The University of Chicago Divinity School.
The Intellectual Freedom Award will be presented the Awards Gala held on Friday evening, October 23, 2015, during the 2015 Illinois Library Conference in Peoria.