TORONTO, ON (February 3rd, 2018): Vickery Bowles, Toronto Public Library’s City Librarian, is the recipient of the 2018 Ontario Library Association Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award, given in recognition of courage shown in defending the rights of library patrons to full access to information.
The award was presented to Bowles during the annual OLA Super Conference, held from Jan 31 to Feb 3 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The Ontario Library Association Board of Directors established the Award for Intellectual Freedom in 1997 to recognize the courage shown by individuals and organizations in defending the rights of library patrons to full access to information. In 2000, the Award was renamed the Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award in memory of the former Chief Librarian of Toronto Public Library whose efforts on behalf of intellectual freedom in Canada are legendary.