Category: Whistler Public Library

Written by Anna Donaldson

Photo: Joan Richoz with a collection of challenged and banned books during Freedom To Read Week in 1994. Whistler Question Collection. 

This year marks the 40th birthday of the Whistler Public Library. To celebrate our friends at the library, we at the museum thought we should highlight some of the amazing work the library has done for the community. Known as Whistler’s Living Room, the library provides crucial services, resources, and programs to community members. One of the ways the library does this is by making sure everyone has access to knowledge. Every year around the last week of February, the Whistler Public Library recognizes Freedom to Read Week. Freedom to Read Week, spearheaded by the Canadian Library Association, has been taking place in libraries across Canada since 1984. It sheds light on books, magazines, and other pieces of media that have been challenged or even banned.

As Canadians, our right to intellectual freedom is guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter was signed in 1982, only two years before Freedom to Read week was established. Freedom to read week encourages us to explore books that were challenged, and learn about why they were challenged, and the action that was actually taken by the organization that housed them. Ignorance can bloom when we don’t learn about these books, despite their controversy. Reading these books is how we can learn about the controversial topics they may contain, and how we can better ourselves from it.

Many books that are deemed as classics have been banned in places all over the world. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and Lord of the Flies by William Golding have all been banned in specific libraries across Canada. In the ‘90s, the Whistler Public Library staff would cover the books for Freedom to Read Week in plain paper bags to draw interest. People are always shocked at which books have been banned in Canada, the U.S.A., or other countries. Joan Richoz, one of the founders of the Whistler Public Library, states that it is a “great way to teach the public that not everyone likes all the books in the library”, and that different people will have different opinions on what is acceptable.

Whistler is a very progressive community, as Richoz states. However, the Whistler Public Library is not immune to challanged books. Since its creation in 1986, the library has had very few books be challenged. The first book to be challenged was Headhunter by Michael Slade. It was challenged under the belief that it did not promote “good Christian values”. In an interview with the museum, Joan remembered that the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak was issued a complaint by a parent for being too violent. Lots of challenged books are children’s books that have not aged well. Joan herself says that while these books shouldn’t be kept in the kids section, it makes sense to put them in a different section to reflect the socio-cultural ideas of society at their time. These books should be read not with the intent to take their messages to heart, but from a sociological perspective. Challenges are always taken very seriously, but ultimately the Whistler Public Library has not formally removed any books from its shelves.

The Whistler Public Library has been very outspoken about their belief in intellectual freedom. Every February, the staff at the library curate a list of books that have been banned or challenged across the country, and promote them. Freedom to Read week encourages us to expand our knowledge, and learn about why these books were banned so that we can better ourselves and our minds. The next Freedom to Read week is from February 21 to February 27, 2027. The current Freedom to Read list can be found below.

https://whistler.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/915621879/2473631239

Anna Donaldson is the Summer Program Coordinator at the Whistler Museum through the Young Canada Works Program.