Tag: Human rights

School Libraries and Intellectual Freedom

School Libraries should be bastions of intellectual freedom. Tragically, the School Library has always been a battleground in the struggles between those that would protect our rights and freedoms and those that would impose their beliefs on others.

This has become all too evident in the U.S. in recent years, and sadly we in Canada are not immune. Provincial Ministries of Education, School Boards, and individual schools and school libraries have been sucked into the current climate of extreme political polarization. Attacks on the freedom to read are on the rise, and include recent decisions made by the government of Alberta. The following are quotes from the response of Canadian School Libraries:

“Individual parents have the right to decide on their child’s reading, but they do not have the right to impose it on everyone.

The selection and availability of school library and learning resource materials should be made by trained professionals, not politicians and bureaucrats.

Not every book in a school library is meant for every student. Schools need to have a wide range of age and developmentally appropriate resources that cover the needs of the student population.

School library collections, with a richness and diversity that allows students to see themselves and experience lives other than their own, are developed within the lens of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the rights and freedoms it affords to all Canadians, including children.”


Find out more about Canadian School Libraries

Student Vote!

Today, registered voters go to the polls in the 2025 Canadian Federal Election. Meanwhile, all over our nation students are participating in a parallel mock election. Come down to the School Library today to cast your vote.

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 well. It is the responsibility of each citizen in a democracy to get informed with reliable and factual information, to think critically, and to exercise the right to vote.

Democracy dies not just because some seek to destroy it, but more so, because too many don’t take seriously their rights and responsibilities, both to exercise democracy, and to protect it.

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Jackie Robinson Day

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On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson played his first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers. In doing so, he became the first African-American to play in the major leagues of baseball, breaking the racist colour barriers that shamefully tarnish the history of the great game of baseball.

Jackie Robinson was a wonderfully talented player who earned the praise of fans for his play on the field. He also earned praise for his courage and determination in the face of a racist society that continued to resist the equal participation of non-whites in the game and in the everyday life of the nation. Robinson faced racial taunting and violence on the field, and untold indignities and threats away from the ballpark.

Thankfully his determination led the way for more black players to follow and helped our society move along the long slow path towards changing attitudes, promoting acceptance and tolerance, and the goal of eliminating racism.

Today in all MLB parks, players will wear #42 in honour of Jackie Robinson. However, the current political and social upheaval that is causing so much pain for so many has raised troubling questions as we attempt to honour #42. The actions of the current administration, particularly in its war on diversity, equity and inclusion, have even brought into question, for some, the viability of events like Jackie Robinson Day.

To celebrate the achievements Jackie Robinson, we also need to acknowledge the painful history of racism in America that kept men like Jackie out for so long. We need to acknowledge the racism of America that has continued to place barriers for the full participation of Black Americans in the “Great American Pastime.” Is Major League Baseball fully committed to honouring Jackie Robinson, not just with words but with action? Will Major League Baseball stand up those elements who want to whitewash history and pretend that racism isn’t an issue today?

Jackie Robinson was a great baseball player who was able to show the world how great he was only when baseball began to acknowledge that the racist policies of segregation were wrong. To do that people had to know their history, not just to celebrate the good, but to acknowledge what was bad, and then strive for better. That process didn’t start and end in 1947. We must continue with that process today.

Find out more:

JackieRobinson.org

Jackie Robinson Museum

MLB: Jackie Robinson Day

Jackie Robinson Day: MLB finds itself in crosshairs of DEI purges.

International Human Rights Day

From the United Nations:

Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR): a milestone document proclaiming the inalienable rights which everyone is inherently entitled to as a human being regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

The theme for Human Rights Day 2024 is “Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now.” 

From the UN:

Human rights can empower individuals and communities to forge a better tomorrow. By embracing and trusting the full power of human rights as the path to the world we want, we can become more peaceful, equal and sustainable.

This Human Rights Day we focus on how human rights are a pathway to solutions, playing a critical role as a preventative, protective and transformative force for good.

Human rights impact everyone, every day and in this campaign, Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now, we will show the tangible impact of human rights by focusing on relevant global issues, showcasing impact, successes and practical solutions.

UN.org

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Check out these books in your School Library:

World Press Freedom Day

May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day, as established by UNESCO / United Nations. The freedom of the press is essential to the establishment and health of democracy.  In our world of social media, misinformation, disinformation, fake news and conspiracy theories, more than ever we need a free, independent, professional and ethical press.

source: UNESCO

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International Women’s Day is Coming Up!

Join with us in Your School Library as we celebrate International Women’s Day by learning more about the historical and ongoing struggle for women’s rights and equality in Canada and around the world.

Banned Books Week

October 1-7 is Banned Books Week. Come down to your School Library to find out more. Find out why book banning is a threat to your freedoms. See the books that are among the most challenged in the world today. Read a banned book this week. Read what you want to read all the time.