Freedom of Expression, Public Education, and Democracy

What makes you feel unsafe? Do you feel threatened by a book – or by a picture in a book? Recently a children’s book in Manitoba was temporarily removed from a school division’s library shelves because some adults said it made them feel unsafe. They had no problem with the text which is a simple story of a child helping her grandmother prepare a special meal for the family.

By James L. Turk

Freedom to Read Week 2026 (February 22–28) is an occasion for reflection and for recognition at a time of increased demands for censorship. Across Canada, library leadership, librarians, paraprofessional staff, and library trustees have spent the past year doing the essential work that intellectual freedom depends on—often under scrutiny, and always in service of the public good.