Join with us at your School Library as we observe and celebrate Freedom to Read Week in Canada, February 19-25, 2023.
Freedom to Read Week is Coming Up
Tag: access to information
Freedom to Read Week
Find out more. Here are some informative and thought provoking articles on the freedom to read, censorship, book banning and free access to information:
- Why are certain school books being banned in US? (BBC)
- Author Robin Stevenson Resists Organized Challenges to Books About Sexual Minorities (FreedomtoRead.ca)
- Read the Books that Schools Want to Ban (The Atlantic)
- The Shifting Landscape for Intellectual Freedom: Recent Challenges in Canadian Libraries (FreedomtoRead.ca)
- How the New Banned Books Panic Fits into America’s History of School Censorship (Vox)
- Why Your Kid Should Read Banned Books (Common Sense Media)
- 29 Books that were Challenged in Canada
Freedom to Read Week
Do you see any common themes amongst all these books?
These are just some of the books that have been challenged, banned and removed from school libraries in the USA, just this year. The freedom to read what you want to read is a fundamental cornerstone of democracy. However, just as democracy itself is under siege around the world, the freedom to read cannot be taken for granted. Anti-democratic forces are always at work to undermine your freedom to read and other democratic rights. You must stand up for those rights.
Is it a coincidence that the books seen above deal with themes such as discrimination, racism, and oppression, or have central characters that come from marginalized groups?
What do you think?
Find out more: FreedomtoRead.ca
Freedom to Read Week
Look for more on Freedom to Read Week in your School Library starting February 22. Meanwhile, be sure to enjoy Family Day on the 21st!
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 