Library wins contest

A Camrose Public Library proposal to produce t-shirts that proclaim the importance of intellectual freedom has been named the winner of the Library Association of Alberta's 2012 Freedom to Read Week Contest.

The T-shirts will be affixed with eight-inch square QR code transfers, which will enable those with devices that read QR codes (smartphones) to scan them and link to a variety of different intellectual freedom websites, including the Canadian Library Association's position statement on intellectual freedom, Wikipedia's intellectual freedom definition, freedomtoread.ca's "When the Censor Comes," and the Challenged Books and Magazines list, 2011.

Camrose Public Library was one of hundreds of libraries across the province that took part in the contest.

"It was a contest that was open to every university, college, school and public library in Alberta," said Camrose Public Library director Deb Cryderman, who accepted a cheque for $300 at the Alberta Library Conference annual general meeting in Jasper in April. "Not every library entered (there are 314 public libraries across Alberta), but it was a significant number."

The library celebrated Freedom to Read Week Feb. 26 to Mar. 3 by having lunchtime and evening readings of banned books and by setting up a display featuring a garbage can filled with banned books and birds flying with "freed" words.

Cryderman sees the Freedom to Read Week celebration as the most important of the year. She notes that Camrose Public Library's collection development policy is based on the Canadian Library Association's statement on intellectual freedom and that anyone who objects to what is included in the collection may make a submission in writing.

Cryderman became aware of the importance of the freedom to read as a Grade 12 student when a teacher took away the book she was reading, The Thornbirds.

"I learned then that nobody has the right to tell another person what he or she cannot read," she said. "If there was something I was reading that challenged my way of thinking it was a great opportunity for me to talk about it with someone."

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions' (IFLA) Statement on Libraries and Intellectual Freedom calls upon libraries and library staff to "adhere to the principles of intellectual freedom, uninhibited access to information and freedom of expression and to recognize the privacy of library user."