Everything tagged: Advocacy

On April 2, 2026, the Government of Alberta announced changes to the Libraries Act that would restrict access to resources in public libraries. The Coalition of Alberta Public Libraries (CAP Libraries) has issued a statement condemning this act of censorship.

Bill C-15 (the Budget Implementation Act) if passed by Parliament, would repeal the sections of the Canada Post Corporation Act that provide for (1) free mailing of letters, books, tapes, records and other similar material for the use of the blind; and (2) reduced postage for library materials (aka the Library Book Rate).

October is Canadian Library Month, an opportunity to raise awareness of the valuable role libraries play in Canadians’ lives. CLM also includes First Nations Public Library Week, Ontario Public Library Week, la Semaine des bibliothèques publiques du Québec, and Saskatchewan Library Week.

The LAA has written to Alberta’s Minister of Education and Childcare expressing concern about the stated involvement of Action4Canada in the recent announcement about school libraries and requesting a meeting to ensure librarians are consulted re new policies for school libraries.

LAA is surprised and concerned by the Government of Alberta’s news release yesterday that it intends to ban books in Alberta school libraries starting in September.

“While public input can be valuable, it is quite concerning that there appears to have been no attempt to get trained professional input, or any attempt to understand under what criteria the books were selected.”

The Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) has sent a letter to Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Chief Executive Officer Richard Baker and Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc, Court-appointed monitors for the HBC, expressing its concern over the proposed auction of historical artifacts from the Hudson’s Bay Company collection.

“We are writing to express our concern about the cuts to school library staff in New Brunswick’s Anglophone School District West. It is disheartening to imagine school libraries trying to be run without trained library staff.”

« Nous vous écrivons pour partager notre inquiétude au sujet des réductions de personnel dans les bibliothèques scolaires du District scolaire anglophone Ouest du Nouveau-Brunswick. C’est décourageant d’envisager que les bibliothèques scolaires tenteront de fonctionner sans personnel qualifié. »

CFLA, in partnership with their government relations firm (Impact Public Affairs), has released several elections-related documents, including guides for meeting candidates and a fact sheet on the importance of libraries to the social infrastructure.