Internet activist Aaron Swartz is being honored by the American Library Association Friday for defending freedom of information.

Swartz committed suicide earlier this year while facing criminal charges for stealing academic articles on the Internet. Library Association President Maureen Sullivan says while those charges are serious, Swartz had a greater legacy that librarians value.
 
"He well understood from a very young age how basic accurate information, particularly government information, is to a democracy, Sullivan said. "And I think he was driven to ensure that that access was easily available."

Swartz's nomination for the award cited his work to help develop the webfeed format R-S-S, the Creative Commons and the news-sharing site Reddit.