Freedom to Read Foundation Celebrates 2023 Roll of Honor Recipient Pat Scales

Freedom to Read Foundation Celebrates 2023 Roll of Honor Recipient Pat Scales

The Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) will honor the work and achievements of librarian and free speech advocate Pat Scales by awarding her its  2023 Roll of Honor Award during the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago in June.  

“Pat’s lifetime of dedication to upholding the principles of intellectual freedom, her years as a collaborator and volunteer with the Foundation, and the numerous ways she has ensured that children, and their parents, can find ways to read together, made her a unanimous and clear choice for this year’s Roll of Honor award,” said Committee Chair and FTRF Vice President Sophia Sotilleo.

Pat’s work as an advocate for the freedom to read began when FTRF founder Judith Krug saw Pat and Judy Blume on the Today Show.  Blume had joined Scales to promote Scales’ program,“Communicate through Literature,” which brought together parents from the middle school where Scales was a librarian. The parents met once a month, without their children, to read books that students had chosen for the parents to read.  The books covered everything from bullying, belonging, and the need to achieve, to sex, and sexuality.  The program was so popular she had to create two groups.

Following Scales’ and Blume’s presentation on the Today Show, Krug wrote a note to Pat recruiting her for the Foundation’s corps of volunteers and trustees, saying that Pat’s work was a good fit with the Freedom to Read Foundation’s mission.  Since then, Pat has been an FTRF trustee, an active volunteer on committees, and as a strong voice in defense of authors’ right to write and publish without censorship, and the right of children, students,  and parents to freely read without censorship. 

Through “Communicate with Literature” and similar initiatives that followed, Pat has worked with everyone from pediatricians to clergy members.  “You can’t only preach to the choir,” said Pat. “You have to accept opportunities, go in, and tell our side of the story.” And throughout Scales’ career, she has done exactly that. 

 Scales’ work as a school librarian and intellectual freedom advocate has had a long-term, visible impact, such as the Scales on Censorship column published by School Library Journal, as well as a growing number of books tackling intellectual freedom issues in schools and libraries.  A new edition of “Teaching Banned Books” will be released this fall and will be available to  inform educators, librarians, and parents for years to come about fighting censorship and the importance of having diverse books available for student readers. “The only thing that matters to me is that it’s out there, so people who need it can use it,” said Scales. 

Scales has made advocacy for the freedom to read a full-time endeavor since her retirement  from teaching 16 years ago.  She has also created a legacy for future educators and librarians by donating  the  Pat Scales Special Collections, a research resource, to  the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama, one of the few public liberal arts schools in the country. The Collection began with 4,000 books in 2016 and now includes over 10,000 children’s and young adult literature titles. Pat still joins the archivist there in teaching a banned books course on a regular basis.

Pat will be honored the evening of  Thursday, June 22, 6 p.m. at  A Rally for the Right to Read: Uniting for Libraries & Intellectual Freedom and at the Opening General Session of the 2023 ALA Annual Conference on Friday, June 23, at 4 p.m.

The Freedom to Read Foundation is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and defending each person’s First Amendment right to read. Since 1969 FTRF trustees, staff, and members have worked to protect First Amendment rights through education, litigation, and advocacy. Visit Freedom to Read Foundation (ftrf.org) or contact ftrf@ala.org to learn more.