We are exposed to an unprecedented amount of information through the internet and social media, but current research indicates that actual reading (the conversion of data to knowledge) is declining. As we grapple with the ethics of AI and algorithmic decision-making, research shows that activities that have traditionally informed basic literacy and civic fluency are under threat.
Tracie D. Hall, winner of the prestigious Medal for Free Speech and Expression from the Roosevelt Institute, draws on her longstanding work on book censorship and the criminalisation of reading across leading democracies, to take a sobering look at what the rise of machine-learning could mean for civic literacy in order to refresh and recast her ‘fight of the century’ for the right to read freely.
This event is part of the series Civic Stories in an Age of Polarisation: The New Humanity Makers presented by the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative.
Tracie D. Hall
Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University of Washington Information School
Public scholar, strategist, and librarian, Tracie D. Hall is the currently Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University of Washington Information School. She is the immediate past Executive Director of the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world, serving library and educational institutions throughout and beyond the US. The first Black woman to helm ALA in its nearly 150-year history, Tracie is currently at work on a comprehensive study of the history of book censorship in the United States as she continues her activism in defense of intellectual freedom and the right to read.
Tracie holds dual Bachelor’s degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Master’s degrees from the Yale University School of International and Area Studies and the University of Washington Information School, and her work in library and arts administration has focused on advancing early and adult literacy, expanding broadband access, advocating for library and literacy services for people who are incarcerated.
The recipient of numerous awards for her professional and civic contributions, Tracie became only the second librarian to be honored with a National Book Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. In 2023, she received the Literacy Leader Award by scaleLIT; was named to TIME Magazine’s inaugural 100 List of the Most Influential People; and followed Rep. John Lewis and journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones in receiving the Medal for Freedom of Speech and Free Expression from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Institute for her work defending intellectual freedom and the right to read.
Professor Tony Birch
Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature
Professor Tony Birch is a writer, historian, and activist. He is the acclaimed author of four novels, five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. His most recent novel, Women & Children was awarded The Age 2024 Fiction Book of the Year. In 2022 his book, Dark As Last Night was awarded the Christina Stead Literary Prize and the Steele Rudd Literary Award and shortlisted for the 2022 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. He regularly appears on ABC local radio and Radio National and has previously been awarded the Patrick White Literary Award for his contribution to Australian literature.
