At the 2015 Annual Convention, Rod Wagner, director of the Nebraska Library Commission, was one of two individuals nominated by an affiliate and honored for his work to promote and defend intellectual freedom. Rod Wagner received an Honorable Mention for the 2015 NCTE National Intellectual Freedom Award.
The Nebraska English Language Arts Council recognized Rod for
“his long history of service in the area of intellectual freedom From arranging for the funding and distribution of Nebraska’s first Intellectual Freedom Handbook for libraries to serving on the Nebraska Academic Freedom Coalition (AFCON).”
Wagner commented on receiving the award:
“Over the course of my career and in my work with libraries, schools, colleges and universities, and the public, I have had many opportunities to appreciate and value intellectual freedom. Intellectual freedom cannot be fully appreciated without an active commitment to its defense. There are constant challenges to our expected freedoms of belief, expression, inquiry, and reading. I have great respect for all who strive to defend these freedoms…I applaud the National Council of Teachers of English for its leadership and efforts in championing intellectual freedom.”