Canadians are lucky.
We have the right to read whatever we like and share ideas without repercussions.
Not every country is so lucky.
This is why Freedom to Read week is celebrated in Saskatchewan from Feb. 21-27.
Reid-Thompson Public Library will be having numerous Freedom to Read week activities, including the author reading with Gail Bowen, a Canadian mystery writer sponsored by the Saskatchewan Library Association on Feb. 22.
Freedom to Read gives everyone the opportunity to broaden their perspectives of what is out there, says Ward, from everything to crime dramas to picture books.
“This allows us to broaden our imagination, see what is happening around us, assist with the development and creativity and to read for fun,” says Ward.
Saskatchewan Library Association President, Gwen Schmidt, says that libraries have been promoting free speech and thought for decades.
“We connect people to information but we do not want to control the kids of information that people have access to.”
The Saskatchewan Library Association represent all kinds of libraries in Saskatchewan. This is an issue that affects all kinds of libraries, says Schmidt.
Any one issue can have many different view points, if the library has only one perspective, it does not promote questioning or critical thinking, says Schmidt.
“You need to be thinking about all the view points on an issue and making up your own mind.”
As librarians, it is not their job to tell people how it is.
Canada does not have as many issues with literary censorship as some countries do. This freedom is part of what makes Canada, with such a variety of ideas and perspectives which are protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a richer country.
“We learn something from each other all the time.” Says Schmidt.
However, reading material is still challenged.
Especially when it comes to teens and children, many parents will have different view points on what is acceptable.
“Sometimes people worry that alternate view points will ultimately damage the young.”
Teens and children have just as much to access information as adults. Libraries protect that right, says Schmidt.
Jenny Ryan is a teen librarian at the Frances Morrison Central Library in downtown Saskatoon and deals with parents and children quite frequently.
People get nervous about what teens and children are reading but seem to not mind after they become adults, says Schmidt.
Reading during the teen years is when their own personal ideas and thoughts on different issues are formed.
“If you are denied access to that information, how are you supposed to formulate your own thoughts and opinions on things?”
With the library committing to this idea of teens and children being free to take out whatever reading material they like, it is also their job to ensure they have a very diverse collection of materials, says Ryan.
Banning books is a unique literary problem. The fact that no one bans movies, says Ryan, speaks to the power a book has.
“Books you can take and digest and kids can take them and read them over again and share them with people and you can read them under the covers.”
Reading a novel is not the same as watching a movie, because people cannot see what is in someones’ head while they’re reading a book, says Ryan.
“We don’t know what the pictures in their heads are, we don’t know what they’re taking from that. We can’t control that so people get really nervous.”
Even though by the time they are teens, they want to formulate their own opinions on things, kids are apt in knowing what is too challenging for them, says Ryan.
She recalls two girls in grade 7 who requested the 50 Shades of Grey books. After it was explained to them what the books were about, they decided for themselves that these books were not for them.
Part of the Reid-Thompson Freedom to Read week is blind date with a banned book. All the books will be covered so people will not be able to see the cover, title, or author.
The choices of books that have been banned may surprise you, says Ward.
