Freedom to Read Week!

“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.” – (freedomtoread.ca, n.d.)

From burning books in dramatic pyres to refusing a book’s entry into a country, these acts of censorship restrict our freedom of expression and knowledge.

uWaterloo Libraries is celebrating Freedom to Read week with a display at the Dana Porter Library. This display will run from February 26th to March 4th. Come and explore books in our own collection that were banned, burned, or challenged in the past. Some titles and reasons for being challenged may surprise you!

Interested in learning more or want to be more involved? Visit freedomtoread.ca or follow #Freedom_to_Read or #FTRWeek! You can see how other libraries and institutions are celebrating Freedom to Read week!

Censorship in Canada – freedomtoread.com. (n.d.). Book and Periodical Council. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.freedomtoread.ca/censorship-in-canada