Erna Paris, the Chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada, wrote an eloquent article about some recent Canadian examples of book challenges: In Canada, more than a hundred books have been challenged over the past two decades alone, in schools, in the courts, in libraries and in bookstores, but although they have been removed from…
Today in the Georgia Straight there is an article by Carel Moiseiwitsch and Gordon Murray who claiming sole responsibility for creating the parody of the Vancouver Sun that has got Mordecai Briemberg sued by CanWest. They argue convinciengly that political satire is a fundamental freedom in Canada. I’ve been surprised and disappointed that there has…
A hearing into a human rights complaint alleging a Maclean’s magazine article spread hatred against Muslims started yesterday in Vancouver. From the CBC website: Mohamed Elmasry and Naiyer Habib of the Canadian Islamic Congress complained to the Canadian, Ontario and B.C. human rights authorities after the Toronto-based magazine published the article, titled The future belongs…
CLA Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom released the results (7 page Word document) from their survey of challenges in Canadian libraries today. Items challenged ranged from Brer Rabbit and the Tar Baby to The Golden Compass; books, graphic novels and film; and internet filtering. Almost all of the challenges resulted in the item being kept…
Check out this short web survey that the CLA Advisory Committee on Intellectual Freedom has put together. This second annual survey is intended to help the Committee develop documentation about challenged resources and policies in Canadian libraries. This initiative supports Canada’s Book and Periodical Council’s (BPC) Freedom to Read campaign as the results will be shared…
King and King was challenged in the public library in Allentown, PA. King and King is a kids picture book about a prince who rejects a bevy of babes to chose Lee as the one he wants to marry. The library director’s comments are spot on and to the point: Kathee Rhode, the library’s director,…
The topic of censorship hyping sales and piquing interest in a title has come up a couple of times this week. Over coffee and bagels, Greyson on Social Justice Librarian wondered if the media coverage of the Toronto Catholic schools who have pulled The Golden Compass and the other two books in the trilogy isn’t…
Concerns that the books are “anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion”. Read more at the CBC (1, 2, 3). Make your own card catalog cards at John Blyberg’s site.
BC writer Nikki Tate’s book Trouble on Tarragon Island was banned by the school librarian at Elizabeth Elementary in Kindersley, SK. The Globe and Mail has run two articles on this (Nov 13 and Nov 7) but you probably won’t be able to read them on their site as you need to pay for articles…
Phew. I finally finished the last Harry Potter book, which got me thinking…I wonder what the most challenged books will be for 2007? It’s more of a small curiosity rather than wondering who is going to win the next Eurovision Song Contest or the Stanley Cup. Last year And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson…
intellectual freedom committee - bcla 
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