Category: Books

Books for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner, but it is never too late to pick up a scary book. Come down to the School Library to browse our collection of horror and all things spooky. Here are some of our most recent additions:

October is Horror Month at your School Library

“The Librarians”

A new documentary explores how public school librarians are standing up for our rights in the fight against book bans and the rise of fascism.

Source: PBS News

Librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities.

“In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQia+ stories – triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of extremism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work – the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale. ” (thelibrariansfilm.com)

Find out more about the documentary film “The Librarians”

The fight against book bans by public school librarians shown in new documentary. Check out this story from PBS News.

October 5-11 is Banned Books Week
October is Canadian Library Month
October is International School Library Month

Banned Books Week

October 5-11 is the ALA’s “Banned Books Week.” Censorship and book banning is alive and well, and we need to fight it. In Canada, and other nations that claim to embrace democracy and freedom, fascism no longer just lurking in the shadows– it is here, out in the open, and seizing power where it can. Fascists seek to control information as a means of controlling the population, and the censorship of books and other reading materials is one prong in that attack.

In Canada we observe the similar “Freedom to Read Week” in the new year. However, we can also join with our American neighbours in recognizing Banned Books Week and the attacks on freedom and democracy that are posed by the massively sharp rise of book banning. The US has seen an especially concerted attack on books for teens about marginalized communities. We are not immune from such fascist tactics in Canada, as book challenges have risen in step with the rise of far right propaganda, and in most cases are centered on schools, classrooms and school libraries.

Find out more about Banned Books Week.

Have you checked out our latest “genrefication” updates?

Come down to your School Library to see the reorganization of our fiction collection. We have moved Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, and Adventure onto their own shelves. You can still find other genres, such as Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Classic, Adult Literacy, and more, on the “General Fiction” shelves.

We have also created a Biography section. Learn more about the lives of all sorts of people, some famous, some not-so-famous, some heroes, some villains… We have biographies (and autobiographies) of activists, athletes, singers, writers, leaders, scientists, actors, thinkers, musicians, artists, and more.

Click here to see our School Library Map

Get Caught Reading Banned Books

In the past few years, the number of challenges to books in both Canada and the United States has exploded. And while sanity prevails in many cases, in more and more places the censors have been successful. In some jurisdictions, hundreds and hundreds of different titles have been pulled from libraries, schools, government offices and other public institutions. In the private sector, bookstores and publishers have reported the increasing pressures of censorship. Writers have commented on the chilling effect this has on intellectual freedom.

Stand up for your rights and freedoms. Democracy is built on upon your right to information. You have the right to choose for yourself.

Adults have the right to choose for themselves what they want to read. Adults don’t have the right to choose what other people get to read. Parents have the right– and the responsibility– to teach and guide and discuss with their children about what types of library materials are right or wrong for them. Parents are free to have their opinions on what materials are good or bad for children in general They even have the right to express their opinions about why they think certain materials are good or bad for children. Parents do not have the right to decide for other people’s children what they can or can’t read.

February 23 to March 1 is Freedom to Read Week in Canada