Category: Beyond the Library

Election Day

Canadians go to the polls today to to elect our federal government. Voting is just one aspect of the democratic system, but it is a vital one. Canadians must cherish the right to vote, and must accept the serious responsibility to vote. It is the responsibility of each citizen in a democracy to get informed, think critically, and exercise the right to vote.

(Source: CC (Daro))

Our students are too young to vote now, but they will be eligible for the elections of the near future. And yet even without voting, our students are participants in the democratic system. High school is important for many different reasons. None is more important that preparing our kids to take on the responsibilities of democratic citizenship.  We want our kids to be Canadians that exercise, celebrate, and protect their rights as citizens in a democracy.

Libraries, including Public Libraries and School Libraries, can play a vital part in the equipping of our students for democratic citizenship.  Canadians must have access to reliable sources of information. Just as importantly, Canadians must be information literate. They must have the tools to be able to recognize unreliable sources, including disinformation, fake news, propaganda, etc.  They must be able to have confidence in recognizing and using reliable information to think critically and to make educated decisions about the issues facing our country, our cities, our neighbourhoods, and our world.

October is International School Library Month
and Canadian Library Month.

What do these books have in common?

What do these books have in common?

These were six of the Top Eleven Most Challenged Books in 2018, as reported by the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom.  These are also books you can freely borrow from your School Library.  Exercise your rights and freedoms, and celebrate the joy of making your own choices about what you want to read.   Find out more about Banned Books Week.

 

Controversial School Board Policy

In a controversial decision made over the March Break, the Surrey School Board voted to require that all schools must display, alongside the current portrait of our Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, portraits of the following:  US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladmir Putin, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim-Jong-Un and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  All Elementary and Secondary  Schools are required to be in compliance with this order by April 5, 2019.

 

International Women’s Day 2018

 

International Women’s Day is celebrated around the globe every March 8th. International Women’s Day is a celebration of the contributions of women to society, especially in politics, culture, economics and other areas traditionally closed to women or where the achievements of women were ignored. IWD is also a chance to focus on the continuing battle for gender equality.

The inequality of opportunity for women, and of course outcome, is unacceptable in modern democracies, and worse in other parts of the world. According to the United Nations, “Today, gender inequality is rife: 1 in 3 women experience violence in their lifetime; 830 women die every day from preventable pregnancy-related causes; and only 1 in 4 parliamentarians worldwide are women. It will be 2086 before we close the gender pay gap if present trends continue with no action.” Those are just a fraction of the statistics which demonstrate the continuing need to stand up against inequality.

The struggle for women’s rights is a struggle for human rights. All people, men as well as women, should stand together and demand change.

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Freedom to Read Week

Freedom to Read Week 2018

It is Freedom to Read Week in Canada.  We take time this week to celebrate some of our fundamental rights and freedoms, including the freedom to read whatever we choose to read. As citizens of a liberal democracy, we require access to information and ideas, free from state interference or censorship. Take some time this week to reflect on your Freedom to Read.

Find out more:

Freedom to Read Week

Women’s March

Women’s Marches took place this past weekend around the country and around the world. Hundreds of thousands of women joined in solidarity in cities like Vancouver and others around Canada, the United States and across the globe. The Women’s March of 2018 was the first anniversary of the Women’s March that took place last year, with much of the impetus coming from protests against the policies of the new U.S. President.  In the year that followed the news has been dominated by  issues related to the equality and rights of women, making this year’s march as important as ever.

source: CBC
source: CBC

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