Toni Samek named CFE Scholar-in-Residence for 2025-2026

The Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University has named Professor Toni Samek, Professor and former Chair at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta, to be its Scholar-in-Residence for 2025-2026.

“We are delighted that Professor Samek has agreed to serve a second year as CFE’s Scholar-in-Residence,” said James L. Turk. “As one of Canada’s leading authorities on intellectual freedom, her work for CFE has been invaluable both for our advocacy and for our assistance for libraries dealing with the increasing number of demands for censorship of their books and programs.”

In addition to her two books and numerous articles on intellectual freedom, Professor Samek is an important public intellectual whose many public talks and invited presentations are vital contributions to public discourse about the importance of expressive freedom in Canada.

She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for service to the Alberta library community, the Library Association of Alberta’s President’s Award, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Library and Information Studies Distinguished Alumna Award, and a 3M National Teaching Fellowship from the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.