12.05.2004

Human Rights and the Public Library

In Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003) Paul Farmer
observes: "As the West intervenes ever more frequently in the affairs of other societies, the legitimacy of its rights standards is called into question." Librarians must preserve the record and provide the resources people will need to understand the moral and ethical issues that confront the world in the 21st century.


"The Human Rights Video Project is dedicated to increasing the public's awareness of human rights issues through the medium of documentary films. The program also aims to build a broad community of filmmakers, librarians, activists, teachers and other citizens interested in using independent video to effect social change in their communities. We believe in the importance of the public library as a place for community discussion and learning, and we hope that this project will create new, powerful alliances between public libraries and local advocacy organizations."