We were particularly concerned that, according to documents obtained by the Canadian Press, Kenney’s office ordered the removal of several sections of the draft document, relating to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada, laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the legalization of same-sex marriage. Further documents show that senior staff members in Kenney’s department felt this was information that should be included in the guide and urged its re-insertion and that his office declined to follow this recommendation.

For the Globe & Mail news report, see http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/immigration-minister-pulled-gay-rights-from-citizenship-guide-documents-show/article1486935/

Text of the BCLA letter is on the BCLA web page. Thanks to IFC members, to Faith Jones, and to the BCLA Board & Executive for producing the letter.

Avi and Leah with the blindfolded mannequin

Avi Silberstein, the Outreach Librarian for Greater Victoria Regional Library describes their provocative and engaging Freedom to Read Week display.

We thought it would be fun to have a mannequin – blindfolded – at the entrance to the library.  So we made a few phone calls and visited a few stores, and after some persistence were able to convince the owner of a local consignment shop to loan us a mannequin.

We picked out a mannequin that was lying on her stomach with her hands near her face, dressed her up in clothes from the consignment store, and propped a book up in her hands.  Then we tied on a blindfold.  We put her up on a table, and filled an adjacent table with banned/challenged books.  We also made sure to put up some signage explaining the display and that the books were there to be borrowed.

The response we received was overwhelmingly positive.  Patrons loved it, staff loved it, and more than anything it got people to stop in their tracks and walk up to the display for a closer look.

We’re encouraging patrons to release their own books, using the Book Crossing project. We’ve put up a display from our collection and are giving out the attached flyer (made by two of our artistically talented staffers). I’m also attaching the lovely poster they made.

FreeaBookhandout

The University of Victoria Libraries and Bookstore are organizing a special campus event to celebrate the 26th year of Freedom to Read Week. We really liked the BookCrossing idea on the FTRW website so we now have 26 campus representatives (including students, faculty, university staff and university administration) releasing 26 challenged books using BookCrossing.com. During February 21-27 these books will be released on campus or around our region to spread the word about challenged and banned books. There are also FTRW displays in the McPherson Library and the Curriculum Library and the University of Victoria Bookstore. The Martlet (student newspaper) is publishing a feature article and photo and a feature and photo went into The Ring, another campus publication http://ring.uvic.ca/10feb/freedom-to-read.html. We’re very pleased the event has captured people’s attention and a lot more students are prepared to defend a book if called upon to do so at some point in their lives.

University of Victoria's Freedom to Read Week image

If you need some visual inspiration, check out these photos:
http://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/creative-ftrw-displays/
http://bclaifc.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/ftrw-contest-winners/
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/03/library-celebrates-b.html

There’s more about the week at www.freedomtoread.ca.

Interested in the BCLA Intellectual Freedom Committee?
- Post or comment to this blog. You can comment without logging in; if you want to post, just e-mail us at bclaifc@gmail.com
- Check out our web site at http://www.bcla.bc.ca/ifc/default.aspx
- Join our e-mail list
- Attend one of our sponsored sessions at the BC Library Conference in Penticton, April 2009 (http://www.bclibraryconference.ca/page/program.aspx). Sessions are: Free Speech & the Olympics: What Happened?; Ain’t on the Globe & Mail Bestseller List; and Literacies and Issues of Intellectual Freedom in the Digital Age – for children’s and youth librarians)
- Contact Beth or Aili at bclaifc@gmail.com

We’d love to hear how you’re celebrating Freedom to Read Week, and we’d love to post your photos on our blog. Thanks to Monica Finn of VIRL who sent in a photo and won a collection of Freedom to Read Week buttons – see below for Monica’s photo! If you need any suggestions or help planning displays or events, please get in touch with Beth or Aili at bclaifc@gmail.com.

Enjoy Freedom to Read Week!

I’m arranging a Freedom to Read Week display in each of the 39 branches of Vancouver Island Regional Library so I’ve already photographed a display which will be sent out with instructions.

I’m attaching the photo, hope it helps. The duotang in the photo will hold the first 12 pages of the 25-page PDF on challenged titles. I set that list out last year and found customers were interested and read through it. It’s an especially good list, I think, because it explains the reason for the challenge and the result.

Vancouver Island Regional Library Freedom to Read Week Display 2010

Thanks so much to Monica for sending us the photo & information. The list she’s including is the one from the Freedom to Read Week web site at www.freedomtoread.ca/censorship_in_canada/challenged_books.asp. We’d love to get more photos of ways in which your library is celebrating Freedom to Read Week. Please send them to bclaifc [at] gmail.com.

Over the 10 years I’ve been a librarian, and the 15 or so I’ve lived in Vancouver, I’ve seen independent bookstore after independent bookstore close down. From generalists like Duthie’s, to specialists like Women in Print, year after year sees less diversity and choice in the bookstores in our town. As an on-the-side small publisher, I see similar stories in cities across North America. It seems like it’s no longer viable to run a bookstore unless you’re a mega-chain.

The demise of independent bookstores hurts the diversity of the materials we have available to read. The loss of independent booksellers means the loss of decades of cumulative experience in the book trade, of a vast knowledge of publishing, and writers, and readers. In the world of books and readers, there needs to be a better link between booksellers and librarians.

But it’s more than that. This is one of the rare times where librarians have some kind of economic leverage. Our buying power could support local independent bookstores with targeted purchases tailored to the needs of our patrons. It infuriates me that we buy from large publishers’ catalogues rather than from local bookstores. It drives me crazy that we ignore the wealth of expertise on our doorsteps, and turn instead to the easy option, the option that gives us a little bit more of a discount at the expense of diversity in our collections. It makes me angry that when I shop at local bookstores as a librarian, I’m an anomaly, often the only librarian buying from that bookstore.

As Tara mentioned, People’s Co-op Bookstore, my absolute favourite Vancouver bookstore, is celebrating 65 years in business with a fundraiser this Friday, January 22, 8pm at the WISE Hall. See http://www.peoplescoopbookstore.com/.
For a list of other local bookstores, see http://thetyee.ca/Books/Bookstores/.

Go shopping!

Beth

from greenpeanut on flickr

A couple of days ago  The Tyee reported that VPL’s Marketing and Communications Manager Jean Kavanagh’s sent a memo in November 2009 to  staff outlining rules about branding and logos of non-Olympic sponsors. The quote that stuck in my head was Kavanagh’s advice to stick a little piece of tape to cover a non-sponsor logo:

The same care (about non-sponsor logos and brands) must be taken for audio-visual equipment. The branch should try to get devices made by official sponsor Panasonic. Should staff only be able to find Sony equipment, the solution is simple. “I would get some tape and put it over the ‘Sony,’” Kavanagh said. “Just a little piece of tape.”

Her email to staff she explains that:

We cannot ever use the VANOC logo. The City as Host City can use the Games marks in conjunction with the City logo but we must obtain permission to do so every time we want to use them. All such requests must be sent to me and I forward the request to our City VANOC liaison.  If you want to insert any VANOC branding/photos with posters/materials we also must obtain approval. I have a good sense of what gets approved so please talk to me before work is started on such materials.

There are also strict rules for using logos/branding of Games sponsors so again please contact me with any ideas before things get underway. The Library doesn’t really deal with the major sponsors, but if for example a branch was involved in a Host A City Happening event and a local Bank of Montreal wanted to sponsor it we would have to say no. The Royal Bank is the official banking sponsor. Some branches may have an opportunity to participate in torch relay activities and all these rules will apply then. Information about the torch relay will be available in the new year.

Kavanagh’s memo outlines several potential branding conflicts and proposes

For example, do not have Pepsi or Dairy Queen sponsor your event. Coke and McDonald’s are the Olympic sponsors. If you are planning a kids’ event and approaching sponsors, approach McDonald’s and not another well-known fast-food outlet.

If you have a speaker/guest who happens to work for Telus, ensure he/she is not wearing their Telus jacket as Bell is the official sponsor.

If you have rented sound equipment and it is not Panasonic or you can’t get Panasonic, cover the brand name with tape or a cloth.

If you are approaching businesses in your area for support and there is a Rona and Home Depot, go to Rona. If there’s only a Home Depot don’t approach them as Rona is the official sponsor. Try other small businesses

VPL has a Sponsorship Policy that outlines the principles of the library:

Vancouver Public Library is a cornerstone of the community. Sponsorships must not undermine the integrity of the non-commercial public space that the Library provides. In developing sponsorship arrangements the Library will:

1. not compromise the public service objectives and practices of the Library or of the sponsored event, service, programmes or activity;
2. protect its principle of intellectual freedom and equity of access to its programmes, services, and collections;…

Download the VPL memo

Media links

The Tyee: Librarians Told to Stand on Guard for Olympic Sponsors

CTV Olympics site: Library asked to cover up non-sponsors’ logos during Games

She’s also created a facebook group to start discussion about banned books and to track her progress and thoughts about reading banned and challenged book titles. The group is open to anyone.

Full details can be found on the note she created at http://bit.ly/5OrOEF

Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits communication, including via web sites, that is “likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt” if the persons belong to one of the prohibited grounds for discrimination (eg sex, sexual orientation).

One of the Tribunal’s main objections is that the Canadian Human Rights Commission has the power to investigate and deal with complaints about hate speech on the Internet, and to fine those it finds guilty.

Is it really the beginning of the end? The Tribunal’s power is limited to refusing to apply section 13 in the case before it (Lemire vs Warman). It cannot repeal the section. But, as Richard Moon argued in a report last year, hate speech is already covered under section 319 of the Criminal Code, prohibiting behaviour that “promotes willful hatred against an identifiable group or groups”. The difference is that these prosecutions are made only with the approval of the Attorney-General, rather than instigated by the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

The tribunal’s decision is at
http://chrt-tcdp.gc.ca/aspinc/search/vhtml-eng.asp?doid=981&lg=_e&isruling=0

There’s an interesting National Post editorial at http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1957347