Zoia Horn - Later Work For Academic Freedom

Later Work For Academic Freedom

After her release from prison, Horn continued to speak out on issues of academic and intellectual freedom. At first, the American Library Association's Executive Board refused publicly to support Horn’s stand against the government’s attempts to intimidate and silence Vietnam War protesters. Later, after questioning Horn for hours, the Board reversed its stance and officially commended Horn for her "commitment...in defense of intellectual freedom." Eventually she was given assistance by the association's Social Responsibilities Round Table, as well as the Leroy Merritt Humanitarian Fund and the Freedom to Read Foundation. Judith Krug, longtime director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, has called Horn "the first librarian who spent time in jail for a value of our profession."

In 1995, Horn published her memoirs, titled ZOIA! Memoirs of Zoia Horn, Battler for the People’s Right to Know. In its review of Horn's memoirs, the Library Journal called Horn "a courageous crusader." Horn has continued to speak out on issues of intellectual freedom, including writing an article on a small-city Oklahoma librarian who was dismissed by the City Commission after being accused of supplying "subversive" materials (including subscriptions to The Nation, The New Republic and Soviet Russia Today) at the library. She has also defended a gay librarian in Oakland, California who was "attacked for creating a display of gay library materials," and speaking out against the Patriot Act. She has also spoken in opposition to libraries' proposals to charge fees, arguing that the "payment of any fee in a public library" resembles censorship in creating "barriers to information access." In 2002, she was awarded the Jackie Eubanks Memorial Award and the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award.