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Censorship: Freedom To Read

Freedom to Read week poster. 9 cartoon images of people reading are next to the words "February 18-24 Freedom to Read Week

They Ban Comic Books?

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has a full-time job defending the works of comic book authors.

And there are comics (also known as graphic novels) that haven't been banned, but are labled to indicate they have "inappropriate content", kind of like the parental advisory labels they have on some music CDs.

You can find a list of comics that have been banned (also explaining why) on CBLDF's website. We have most these graphic novels in the Library. You can find them by searching the title and/or author in the library catalogue.

Searching for Censorship Books

Here are some good keywords you can use in your searches for books about censorship in our library catalogue:

  • Academic freedom
  • Anticensorship activists
  • Book burning
  • Censorship
  • Challenged books
  • Expurgated books
  • Freedom of expression
  • Freedom of information
  • Freedom of speech
  • Freedom of the press
  • Intellectual freedom
  • Literature and morals
  • Obscenity
  • Prohibited books
  • Swearing
  • Taboo
  • Underground literature

Books Banned In Canada

At one time or another, all the library books below have been challenged and/or banned somewhere in Canada. Look the book up on Freedom To Read's full list to find out why it was challenged.

Exercise your freedom, and read a banned book.

The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

An Anthology Of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, & True Stories by Ivan Brunetti

The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide by Lewy Guenter

Art's Supplies by Chris Tougas

Black Looks : Race and Representation by Bell Hooks

Bad Medicine : A Judge's Struggle For Justice In A First Nations Community by John Reilly

Black Hole by Charles Burns

Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger

A Clockwork Orange  by Anthony Burgess

Color Psychology And Color Therapy : A Factual Study Of The Influence Of Color On Human Life by Faberr Birren

Dance Me Outside by W. P. Kinsella

Deliverance by James Dickey

The Diviners by Margaret Laurence

Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture edited by Carole Boyce Davies

Fifty Mighty Men by Grant MacEwan

Final Exit : The Practicalities Of Self-Deliverance And Assisted Suicide For The Dying by Derek Humphry

Forbidden Passages by Pat Califia

Gentle Sinners by W.D. Valgardson

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Hitler's War by David Irving

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Kim by Rudyard Kipling

Lethal Marriage by Nick Pron

Lives Of Girls And Women by Alice Munro

Lizzy's Lion by Dennis Lee

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety by Daniel Smith

Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

Our Petroleum Challenge: Exploring Canada’s Oil and Gas Industry by Robert Bott

Paul Kagame And Rwanda :  Power, Geonocide And The Rwandan Patriotic Front by Colin M. Waugh

Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson

Sri Guru Granth Sahib in English Translation by Gurbachan Singh Talib

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Uncle Remus by Joel Harris

The Valour And The Horror by Merily Weisbord

The Wars by Timothy Findley

What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense by Sherif Girgis, Ryan Anderson and Robert George

The Young In One Another’s Arms by Jane Rule

Freedom To Read Week

Freedom to Read week happens every February, when Canadian libraries try to raise awareness about censorship and intellectual freedom.

Think You Can Read Anything You Want In Canada?

Canadian Border Service agents can prevent anything crossing the border they've classified as violating Canadian laws around hate, propaganda, seditious or treasonous materials. They can also stop anything from coming into Canada that an agent has decided is "obscene". Wondering what is obscene?

 

 

 

 

Get the fulsome descriptions at the Canadian Border Service Agency's criteria of obscenity.

And here is CANLII Connects summary page of Vancouver's Little Sisters Bookstore v Canada, a now famous battles with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency over the Agency's seizure at the border of books and magazines purchased by the bookstore.

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