Freedom to Read Week
Fri. Feb. 21, 2025
Celebrate Freedom to Read Week from February 23rd to March 1st.
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event founded in 1984 to promote intellectual freedom and challenge censorship. Although Canada has strong traditions of free expression, it also has a long-standing tradition of censorship. Books or magazines are sometimes challenged by individuals who deem them too offensive or inappropriate for certain audiences. Sometimes those books are removed from library collections or school curricula. Freedom to Read Week encourages everyone to reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom and to defend their right to publish, read, and write freely.
To celebrate Freedom to Read week, we encourage you to read one of the following nine books that have been challenged here in Manitoba and are available at the UWinnipeg Library:
- Claybourne, Anna. Sex and Relationships. Franklin Watts, 2016.
- Dawson, Juno, et al. This Book Is Gay. Sourcebooks Fire, 2021.
- Gino, Alex. Melissa. Scholastic, 2022.
- Harris, Robie H, and Michael Emberley. It’s Perfectly Normal : Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health. Fifth ed., Candlewick Press, 2021.
- Johnson, George M. All Boys Aren’t Blue : A Memoir-Manifesto. First ed., Farrar Straus Giroux, 2020.
- Kobabe, Maia, et al. Gender Queer : A Memoir. Oni Press, 2020.
- Moen, Erika, and Matthew Nolan. Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human. First ed., RH Graphic, 2021.
- Silverberg, Cory, and Fiona Smyth. Sex Is a Funny Word : A Book About Bodies, Feelings, and You. Seven Stories Press, 2015.
- Thorn, Theresa, and Noah Grigni. It Feels Good to Be Yourself : A Book About Gender Identity. First ed., Henry Holt and Company, 2019.
If you want to learn more about intellectual freedom and book censorship in Canada, the Freedom to Read Week website offers various resources for students and educators.
Sources: Freedom to Read Week website