Freedom to Read Week 2009

Freedom to Read Week is observed yearly in Canada by the Book and Periodical Council. In 2009 it will be held from February 22nd to February 28th. In their position statement the BPC states that "the freedom to choose what we read does not, however, include the freedom to choose for others."

Freedom to Read Week was created to bring attention to the number of challenges that books faced at the border, in libraries and in schools. As they say on their official website, "freedom to read can never be taken for granted." It is up to those of us who value the right to read what we want to help promote the freedom to read.

One of the most recent challenged books in Canada is Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale. The Handmaid's Tale was published in the 1980s and was also made into a film. It is the story of a future society that is ruled by a fundamentalist government. Women are subjugated to men, sex is only for procreation and women (called handmaid's) are taken away from their husbands and families to be forced to give birth to children for rich women.

One parent complained that his Grade 12 son should not have to read the book because of its sexual content, its brutality, and its criticism of religious fundamentalists. As a result he wanted it removed from all schools.

This parent is entitled to his view but I don't believe he has the right to deny anyone else the freedom to read this book. It is not an unsuitable book for teenagers over sixteen years of age to read and discuss in school. And, it is fiction after all, not a narrative history.