Schliesman is a librarian with the School of Education’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC). In that role, she oversees the CCBC’s Intellectual Freedom Information Service that responds to any teachers or librarians in the state who are facing a challenge to a book they have in their classroom or that’s in a school or public library.

This is a free, confidential service, and Wisconsin is the only state in the U.S. that provides such a service.

CCBC librarians also work to ensure that administrators and educators include and honor their local policies related to selection and reconsideration in districts who are facing a challenge. They travel throughout the state and the nation to share information related to intellectual freedom in the pursuit of making sure that educators know what their local policies are, how to best share that information, and what to do if there is a concern or complaint about a particular book.

Schliesman is the person behind the scenes who makes all of these efforts possible.

To learn more about the CCBC’s Intellectual Freedom Information service, visit this CCBC web page.

The Lee Burress Intellectual Freedom Award recognizes an educator or group who has been an advocate for expression free from censorship and for humane communication. It was begun in honor of Lee Burress, a long-time educator at UW–Stevens Point, who exemplified these attributes in his life as well as his teaching.