Freedom to Read Week, Feb. 21-27, "encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
"Freedom to read can never be taken for granted. Even in Canada, a free country by world standards, books and magazines are banned at the border. Books are removed from the shelves in Canadian libraries, schools and bookstores every day. Free speech on the Internet is under attack. Few of these stories make headlines, but they affect the right of Canadians to decide for themselves what they choose to read." (Freedom to Read website)
Our table display contains banned or challenged books in Canada and the world with explanations as to why the books were banned or challenged. Please feel free to check out any of these!
To mark Freedom to Read Week, the Freedom of Expression committee, in partnership with BookCrossing.com, has come up with a fun and innovative challenge for Canadians. We call it "Free a Challenged Book." Find out how you can release a challenged book!
Interested in searching the Library Catalogue for materials related to this topic? Use these terms in a Subject search: Prohibited books; censorship; libraries censorship; freedom of the press; book burning; challenged books