Our Freedom to Read and Why It’s Important – Patrons

What do library patrons need to know about freedom to read?

“The freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the freedom to choose for others.”
Canadian School Libraries Association

Freedom to read gives everyone the right to think for themselves. It respects individual dignity and self-rule. This freedom allows people to form their own ideas and opinions by questioning the world around them. Every person has the right to access information from all points of view, in all formats, without restriction, and have their privacy respected when doing so. Protection of this freedom assures every person’s right to form their own ideas and opinions (Censorship Q&A, American Library Association, n.d.).
Libraries have a responsibility to facilitate access to materials, programming, and spaces that support, defend, and promote the full range of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion. Only the courts can abridge the rights of Canadian citizens to free expression and their freedom to read (Canadian Federation of Library Associations, 2019).
Parents/Guardians of minors have a responsibility to monitor and guide their own children’s library selections and the programs they attend. It’s the role of libraries to provide resources and programming to meet the needs and interests of many kinds of patrons and families, not to censor what materials every child/teen has access to.
Do you have library policies/procedures about Freedom of Expression? Share this and/or your collections policy with patrons and (calmly) discuss how the policy protects everyone’s freedom to read what they like (including theirs).
Libraries of all kinds are currently facing a reactionary book-banning movement from a small, but loud minority. This movement seeks to restrict the right to access information from all points of view, in all formats, of all individuals. If patrons would like to show support for their local libraries and their staff, they can fill out a “Because of the Library” webform by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
If patrons are looking for other ways they can support libraries in the fight against censorship, there are a whole host of ideas listed in this BookRiot article.