Intellectual Freedom Committee
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, including those which some individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable…
Libraries provide, defend and promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for censorship and the adoption of systems that deny or restrict access to resources.
As part of our commitment to intellectual freedom, CFLA-FCAB supports the Intellectual Freedom Challenges Survey (formerly known as the Annual Challenges Survey) of Canadian libraries. The survey creates a national snapshot of the nature and outcome of challenges to intellectual freedom in publicly-funded Canadian libraries. By documenting and reporting these incidents, Canadian libraries demonstrate their commitment to public accountability and institutional transparency.
You can complete the survey and view the past survey results below.
Association (CLA). This fund provides up to $5,000 in financial assistance to public libraries serving populations under 29,999, or libraries that would encounter undue financial hardship when defending intellectual freedom.
About
Mandate
Intellectual Freedom Committee Terms of Reference
Members
- Wendy Wright, Committee Chair, Smithers Public Library
- Richard Ellis, Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Martin Bonnard, ABPQ
- Kelly Lauzon, Airdrie Public Library
- Dina Stevens, Federation of Ontario Public Libraries
- Robert Thomas, University of Regina
- Michael Dudley, University of Winnipeg
- Michael Nyby, W Ross Macdonald School for the Blind
- Sharon Day, Edmonton Public Library
- Marc Saunders, Port Moody Public Library
Ex-officio
- Jessica Knoch (Liaison to CFLA-FCAB)
- Michael Rogowski (CFLA-FCAB Staff Member)
Toolkit
Statements
- Intellectual Freedom and Libraries
- Intellectual Freedom: Third Party Use of Publicly Funded Library Meetings Rooms and Facilities
- Intellectual Freedom: Challenges to the book Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier – a CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Brief
- Intellectual Freedom: Challenges Faced by Libraries: Programming and Collections Supporting LGBTQIA2S+ Communities – Guidance from the CFLA-FCAB Intellectual Freedom Committee
- Intellectual Freedom: Notice of Personal Liability
- Intellectual Freedom: Position on Protest and Disagreement related to Collections, Programs and Speakers in Libraries. An Interpretation of the Canadian Federation of Library Associations’ Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries