I am pleased to announce our upcoming Freedom of Information Day celebration at the Science, Industry and Business Library. It will be held on Thursday, March 15, 2012 from 10:30 a.m. to noon in Healy Hall (on the lower level), and will feature as guest presenter Robert Weissman, president of the public advocacy organization Public Citizen. This event is free and open to the public. No reservations are required.

James Madison - Advocate of Government TransparencyA regular annual event here at SIBL, Freedom of Information Day was recognized by a Congressional Joint Resolution in 1989. We have always tried to hold our own celebration as close as possible to March 16, the birthday of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and the primary architect of the Bill of Rights. Holding this observance is a way to help underscore the importance to The New York Public Library community, and the library world at large, of freedom of the press, speech, information, and the public’s right to know.

Find more information about last year's presentation and a discussion of other past events at SIBL. I look forward to discussing our March 15 event in a upcoming blog post or two. In the meantime, here is some information about Weissman and his organization, Public Citizen:

About Our Presenter

Robert Weissman is an expert on economic, health care, trade and globalization, intellectual property and regulatory policy, and issues related to financial accountability and corporate responsibility. He has written extensively on corporate accountability, access to medicines, corporate influence over the political process, the World Trade Organization, and regulation of the financial markets. He has worked to lower pharmacy prices for AIDS victims and others in the developing world. His top priorities include climate change, health care reform, financial regulation, and campaign finance reform.

Weissman has appeared on CBS, CNN, PBS, CNBC, NPR, and Marketplace Radio, and has been published and quoted in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Economist, The Financial Times, the Associated Press, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Time Magazine.

About Public Citizen

Public Citizen serves as the people’s voice in the nation’s capital. Since its founding in 1971, it has delved into an array of areas, but its work on each issue shares an overarching goal: To ensure that all citizens are represented in the halls of power. Public Citizen is a nonprofit organization that does not participate in partisan political activities or endorse any candidates for elected office.

For four decades, Public Citizen has proudly championed citizen interests before Congress, the executive branch agencies, and the courts. It has successfully challenged the abusive practices of the pharmaceutical, nuclear, and automobile industries, and many others.  Currently it has five policy groups: the Congress Watch division, the Energy Program, Global Trade Watch, the Health Research Group, and a Litigation Group.

More information about Public Citizen can be found on its website at www.citizen.org.