This week, we've joined libraries and communities across Canada in recognizing Freedom to Read Week, an annual initiative highlighting the importance of intellectual freedom and open access to knowledge.

Organized by Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and the Ontario Library Association in partnership with the Book and Periodical Council, this week encourages us to confront censorship and reaffirm our commitment to free expression.

Despite having strong traditions of free expression and free inquiry, Canada also has a long-standing tradition of censorship. Historically, books and magazines have often been quietly removed from libraries and classrooms.

Freedom to Read Week was founded in 1984 to challenge the covert nature of censorship, creating a broader awareness of these ongoing challenges to Canadian writing. It also encourages Canadians to actively defend their right to publish, read and write freely and to widen their understanding of the negative effects of censorship, not just on readers but on writers and publishers as well.

Over the years, Freedom to Read Week has become a regular feature of the annual programming of schools, libraries and literary groups across Canada. From student video contests to large public readings of challenged materials, participants have found creative and inspiring ways to show how important freedom of expression is to them.