Barre with Justine

So it’s Freedom to Read Week here in Canada and I’ve spent some time thinking about what this week means and my own feelings about book challenges. Libraries still face requests to remove materials, for many different reasons and from both sides of the political spectrum. There is often a sense that book challenges come entirely from conservative pockets of the United States, but the reality is that books by conservative authors are just as likely to be requested for removal.

The Centre for Free Expression maintains a database of challenged materials and events across Canada; a quick scan through the recent challenges demonstrates that for every book that is questioned for being Pro LGBTQIA2S+, there is another that is questioned for being transphobic. Some are challenged for being pro-Jewish(?), others for being Islamophobic. It’s reassuring to see that, in most cases, books are retained despite requests for removal.

Often it isn’t so much the book itself but the author and what they represent that raises objections to the book. Think of JK Rowling’s books or autobiographies of political figures. One such author is Marie Henein, a high profile Canadian defense lawyer who in 2021 published her own memoir.

Marie Henein: Inappropriate Author for Impressionable Young Women?

I loved hearing Marie Henein speak at the Ontario Library Association conference in January. Her eloquence, her self-confidence, and her perspective was everything I needed to hear.

She mentioned that her 2021 memoir, Nothing but the Truth, had received scrutiny by the Toronto District School Board in the fall of that year when Tanya Allen, the organizer of a book club for teenage girls, was told their students could not read the book or attend a virtual event with Henein. Eventually the board relented and allowed the girls to read the book, but it was too late for the event. Fortunately, Henein organized a more substantial event and brought attention to this case of banning.

This case is one small example of how books can provoke strong thoughts about who can have a voice and what kind of information “deserves to be read”. The idea that the impressionable girls may be harmed by reading the words of a lawyer who took on (and won) the Jian Ghomeshi case is condescending and irrelevant when the book is mainly about Henein’s life, reflections and pretty remarkable achievements (without comment on her high profile cases).

What does this example tell us about why some books face more scrutiny?

While I’m not entirely sure, I think many felt that Henein betrayed her fellow females when she took the case on. That was what I heard from some friends of mine and in the media. (I suppose I admired that she didn’t seem to care what others thought, even then, as she did her JOB as a defence attorney with poise and excellence.). Maybe she didn’t deserve to be read by these young girls because she wasn’t the “right kind” of woman. (Henein spoke a lot about how women are never enough…too maternal, not maternal enough, ruthless or too soft, supportive or not supportive enough)

Any efforts to dissuade people from engaging with a text just seems so counterintuitive. If the book is terrible, let me discover that for myself. We live in a culture where it’s easy to find information at any moment of the day – choosing a book to read is something that actually takes thought and initiative. And we know the more books are suppressed, the more interesting they become.

some final (and personal) thoughts…

While I don’t agree with pulling books from library shelves, I do believe in acting with sensitivity and from a place of kindness. I remember when books came out about Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka’s crimes, which were so very close to home in St. Catharines. In that case the books were acquired but not put out on the shelf – still accessible but perhaps a little less painful for the families involved and the city that was left brokenhearted.

I think it’s also fine if a library chooses not to acquire books that exist outside its collection development guidelines or that are simply poorly written or researched. What concerns me the most is when books (like Henein’s) are incredibly popular (national bestseller) and well-reviewed, but are held back from interested readers.

As always, would love to hear your thoughts and thanks for reading!