CFLA-FCAB National Forum

May 17, 2023: 1:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. (CT)

Join the CFLA-FCAB for a half day of discovery and discourse to inform national policies and practices regarding the current moral panic facing libraries. 

The CFLA-FCAB National Forum began in 2018, intended to be a biennial event to focus dialogue on some of the most critical challenges facing libraries in Canada. After a successful event at the Saskatchewan Library Association Conference in 2018, the pandemic hit, and the National Forum was paused until the library community, along with the world, started experiencing some sense of normalcy again.

This year, the CFLA-FCAB is pleased to partner with the Manitoba Library Association to bring the National Forum back to the library community, this time online, as the lead-in to the Manitoba Library Association Annual Conference. 

The 2023 National Forum is designed to blend an informative session with roundtable conversations that will result in the development of a CFLA-FCAB Task Force and key actions for the CFLA-FCAB member organizations to consider as we explore how the national library community can mobilize, systematically share information and ultimately combat the present moral panic that is disrupting and censoring the delivery of essential library services across the country. 

This year’s speaker is Dr. Lucy Santos Green. 

Director of the Iowa Graduate College School of Library and Information Science, Dr. Santos Green has written extensively on librarianship for marginalized populations and the current moral panic that is threatening libraries across the United States. She is a project member and contributor to the Get Ready Stay Ready :Community Action Toolkit that curates resources about the negative impact of censorship, including scripts for speaking and writing, tools for civic engagement and a network of organizations across the United States that work to preserve intellectual freedom. 

Dr. Santos Green’s talk will focus on the moral panic, and inspire you to consider how we can work together as a community to gather the tools and resources we need to begin combating it in Canada. The talk will be followed by an action-oriented conversation that will determine next steps for a new CFLA-FCAB task force that will continue to gather resources and information to aid our community in combating the increasing calls to censor materials and programming in libraries across the country. 

Participate with colleagues from across Canada in focussed dialogues that will consider one of the most critical challenges facing libraries. Contribute towards crafting outcomes that will advance the state of libraries and the Federation.  

The National Forum is included in the price of the overall conference of the Manitoba Library Association. Please register for the conference here. Members of all Territorial and Provincial Associations are eligible for the discounted member registration fee. 

Be a part of Canada’s national library landscape. Register today.