April is Literacy Month here at Burnaby Mountain. While we’ll be saving the school-wide celebrating for April 11 – 14, here in the Library Learning Commons, we’re going to make a full month of it. So we’re starting with a week that encourages you to think about your Freedom to Read.
Books can take us to different times, different places, just … different. Sometimes we see our own lives in them, sometimes others’ lives – a chance to maybe grow some empathy.
Sometimes books can make us feel uncomfortable. There seems to be a lot of that out there right now. Stories or information that make people uncomfortable, things they don’t want to read or don’t want others to read. This is not new; it has been happening for as long as there have been books. But the challenging and banning of books seems to be on the uptick.
While you can decide there are books you don’t want to read, don’t let your friends, someone else’s parents, or that random person down the street decide that for you. Stand up for your right to choose and to read.
“Censorship comes from a place of fear. We fear that which is different, what we cannot comprehend. Books gift us with understanding, empower us with knowledge.” – Ellen Hopkins