Freedom+to+Read+Week

//** [|**Freedom to Read Week Feb 26 - Mar 3, 2012**] **//



**NEW LINK: [|CKUA Freedom To Read]activities related to music for teens!**

**Start the Conversation with this student activity!**

We should never be without the opportunity to discuss what we read. In a democracy that should be expected. As Canadians we have a right of access to information we often take for granted. Every year many books and their writers find themselves being challenged for their content and individual right of expression. For example, the picture book [|"And Tango Makes Three"]has come under fire here in our own province. The present crisis in Syria begs a significant question about censorship.

Are all voices being heard? February once again presents an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on the many freedoms we have and to re-activate our discussions on this important topic. The links on this page are provided as launch points for that discussion using content that is available through the **Online Reference Centre** resources along with some external links which might be helpful.



Check out the [|Freedom to Read] web site for info, tools, lesson planning info, posters, and a multitude of resources on this topic. [|Order a kit] of materials for your school that will help you get started.

Take time to visit
 * [|The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]
 * [|Universal Declaration of Human Rights]
 * [|Canadian Library Association Statement on Intellectual Freedom]

and consider their implications in relation to your School Library Collection Development Policy.This might be a good time to pull out that document and update it. If you don't have one, now would be a good time to create one.

Check out these ORC resources for additional material on this subject. NOTE: There are many more terms to search, but for the sake of simplicity the term "//censorship"// has been used for these examples. Many others will work, for example "freedom to read".
 * [|Captioning the Taliban] very useful in high school SS but also useful in a conversation about whether something is as it appears to be.
 * [|Freedom of Expression: Resistance and Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property] - search "censorship" in Resource Search. 52 min video (Grade 10-12)
 * [|MediaMix: 'Flight to Freedom' for Black History Month] This is a free interactive, immersive role-playing game in the "Mission US" series. These games are designed to get middle school students excited about history and to have them see events through the eyes of teens from the past. Although US history based, they still provide a unique way to see through the eyes of a black child in 1848.
 * search in eLibrary CE Canada using the term "//censorship//" for a launch page with images, articles, web links, discussion of censorship in the press and access to social media around the world
 * search in Culturgrams/World Edition using the term "//censorship"// for a list of articles about countries around the world that practice censorship (TIP: once in the article use the "File/Find" option in your browser menu to locate the occurrence of the term throughout the article)
 * search in Canadian Encyclopedia using "//censorship"// for a variety of articles on this topic that address various aspects. (TIP: Use the File/Find in your browser to locate the term within articles.)
 * search using the term "//censorship//" in //Canadian Points of View Reference Centre//
 * search in Proquest Learning Literature for "//censorship"// for a list of articles, primary documents, etc. on the topic
 * search "//censorship// in Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia for background/history on censorship and freedom of the press in the USA
 * search in History Study Centre for Study Units on McCarthyism, Communism, History of Cartoons, etc; along with historical documents, and articles that discuss the history of censorship in the military, the theatre, the women's movement, etc.
 * search in Peel's Prairie Provinces using "//censorship" ; (//TIP: select an item, and then use the "search within this document" option at the top of the page for primary source material on this topic in a Canadian context)
 * search in World Book Student or World Book Advanced using "//censorship//" for background articles, primary documents and //Back in Time// articles on this topic (look for the one on Canadian Literature in 1978 at the top of the //Back in Time// list of results)
 * search in Canadian Reference Centre/Canadian Student Reference Centre using "//censorship"// to find articles, images, current web news feeds, current news blogs, current podcasts on this topic.
 * Search for //"censorship"// on[| Learnalberta] for this 52 min video: "Freedom of Expressions: Resistance & Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property" by Media Education Foundation (2007) (NOTE: US perspective)