February 22-28, 2026
Freedom to Read Week is an annual event that encourages Canadians to reflect on and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom. Upholding the community's right to read is a year-round responsibility at libraries. Books are challenged and even banned in Canada and around the world.
Celebrate this crucial literary week with us and browse our collections for your next great read.
We have curated a few book lists containing titles that, at one point, drew complaints or were requested to be removed or to have public access limited in schools, libraries, or bookstores.
"Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, including those which some individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, in accordance with their mandates and professional values and standards, libraries provide, defend and promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for censorship and the adoption of systems that deny or restrict access to resources." — Canadian Federation of Library Associations
