Freedom to Read Week

Think about your favorite book, perhaps something nostalgic or a safe haven for you to disappear into. Now imagine it is no longer allowed in libraries. Perhaps someone has challenged or banned it for various reasons, and now it is unavailable for you to enjoy, and you had no say in the matter. Your comfort book, the one you hold close to your heart, taken off the shelves and thrown away.

It’s a painful thought, isn’t it? This is something libraries face worldwide.

Freedom to Read in Canada

In Canada, Freedom to Read Week, is a time to raise awareness about intellectual freedom, censorship, and public access to books. This year, Freedom to Read Week is February 23 to March 1, a time to highlight educational and thought-provoking materials, perhaps some books that may make you think, wonder, or critique. Check out our Freedom to Read booklist and judge for yourself why some books are challenged. You can also find more titles at our library locations.

Although having strong traditions of freedom of expression and inquiry, Canada also has a tradition of censorship. Throughout our history, libraries and schools have quietly removed books when challenged by others due to conflicting opinions. Freedom to Read encourages Canadians to defend their right to read freely while widening their understanding of the negative effects of censorship.

While there is an understanding that some content may go against particular beliefs or opinions, attempting to control or remove that content from public use goes against the Ontario Public Libraries Act, which supports equal access to information.

Your Freedom to Read

We grow both as people and as readers when we push our comfort zone and ask ourselves why we are uncomfortable with certain topics, images, and books. Our role as library staff, and your role as our members, is not to censor materials but instead to understand that some materials aren’t meant for us, and that is okay.

If you come across a title you don’t like or don’t approve of, there are countless others who may feel the same way about your favorite book, and that is also their right of opinion. The point of intellectual and expressive freedom is that everyone holds the ability to access what they would like, and the ability to leave the rest for others.

Freedom to Read Week is led by Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and the Ontario Library Association in partnership with the Book and Periodical Council.