In Canada, in 2023 Maclean’s and CBC News reported that an online group of individuals launched co-ordinated book challenges in Ontario and British Columbia, seeking to remove all books that discuss sexual orientation and gender identity.
“When children cannot find themselves reflected in the books they read, or when the images they see are distorted, negative, or laughable, they learn a powerful lesson about how they are devalued in the society of which they are a part.”
-Rudine Sims Bishop, "Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors," in Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 1990
The United States has seen a growing trend in the number of requests to ban books in schools. Nearly half of targeted titles represent the voices and lived experiences of gender-diverse and racialized people.
Source: American Library Association (ALA)
What to do?
The Canadian School Libraries organization issued a statement in May 2023 that provides a number of recommendations for school divisions, including the following:
- Establish and follow procedures for the reconsideration of library resources so that challenges are handled professionally and unemotionally.
- Resist calls to deny students’ right to read based on values that do not align with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian Human Rights Act.
- Re-invest in professional library staffing and quality collections.
