The Toronto Public Library Just Got A Book Sanctuary Full Of 'Challenged Or Banned' Stories
The library aims to "defend intellectual freedom."
Book Sanctuary at Toronto Public Library. Right: 1984 by George Orwell.
You can now find "challenged or banned" books at the Toronto Public Library. In commemoration of Freedom to Read Week, the TPL announced yesterday that it is joining the Book Sanctuary Movement and will offer a collection of 50 adult, teen and children's books that have come under scrutiny and even been removed from a public library or school.
The movement was initially started by the Chicago Public Library in 2022 and addresses the "increasing intellectual freedom challenges on a wide range of issues" faced by libraries.
The TPL aims to "protect and defend Torontonians' rights to freely access a broad range of diverse materials" and has declared its 100 branches and online spaces as book sanctuaries.
A permanent Book Sanctuary can be found on the fourth floor of the Toronto Reference Library. The library will continue to add titles over time, so there will be new material to read.
Some of the controversial books include Atonement, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Of Mice and Men, 1984, The Kite Runner, The Hunger Games, and The Glass Castle. A full list of books can be found on the library website.
In addition to the book collection, the TPL is launching new versions of its On Civil Society programming with a focus on intellectual freedom topics. You can join talks such as Libraries as Defenders of Open Society and Left is Not Woke.
In a press release, the TPL stated that "intellectual freedom is the right to read, seek information, and speak freely as protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and is a core public library value."
It also noted that while intellectual freedom challenges have been on the rise in the Unites States, "there are some disturbing trends emerging in Canada" and that "challenges are coming from all sides of the political and social spectrum."