20 Years of Freedom to Read in Canada – Where Do You Stand?
Freedom to Read Week, February 22-28, 2004
"Freedom to Read Week is both a challenge and a reminder to all Canadians," states Ron Brown, a long-time member of the Writers' Union of Canada and chair of the Freedom of Expression (FOE) Committee of the Book and Periodical Council. "The 20th anniversary of Freedom to Read Week in Canada – February 22-28, 2004 – provides an opportunity to examine how we as a country view censorship and other challenges to intellectual freedom."
Freedom to Read Week began 20 years ago as a result of challenges to books by Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro. Since then, the Freedom of Expression Committee has lent their support to many associations fighting against the efforts to ban works by individual writers, including Shakespeare, John Steinbeck and J.K. Rowling. The Committee recently joined PEN Canada and many other organizations in expressing outrage over the refusal of the Ontario Provincial Police to return Marsha Boulton's computer and unfinished manuscript.
To commemorate the 20th anniversary, the Committee has redesigned their Web site, www.freedomtoread.ca and the 2004 Freedom to Read Week Kit. This year's poster, by award-winning designer David Wyman, is of a boot coming down on the open pages of a book. "It isn't pretty, but it is a true image for any writer, bookseller, publisher, educator or librarian faced with challenges to books and other materials," says Ron Brown.
A new initiative – in association with the innovative book-sharing program BookCrossing.com – encourages Canadians to "read and release" books that have been banned or challenged in Canada. Readers are encouraged to scan their bookshelves for a title from the Challenged Books list at www.freedomtoread.ca, register the book at www.bookcrossing.com, affix one of our handy "Release a Challenged Book" labels and then leave the book in a public spot for someone else to discover and, hopefully, start a discussion about censorship and freedom of expression.
Other events, including readings, displays and debates, will mark Freedom to Read Week 2004 in cities and towns across the country. A calendar of events, many of which are free and open to the public, is available at www.freedomtoread.ca.
The Book and Periodical Council gratefully acknowledges the support of our sponsors.
