Freedom to Read Week, February 23rd – March 1st, 2014, is “an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms” (http://www.freedomtoread.ca/).
ALA at UBC is proud to be partnering with BCLA/CLA at UBC in order to promote greater awareness about censorship and intellectual freedom! In order to do so we’re having an awesome event on Tuesday, February 25th from 10:00am-3:30pm in the Lillooet Room.
10:00am-12:00pm
Read-A-Thon! As in past years we’re inviting you (yes you!) to read an excerpt (up to ten minutes) from your favourite banned or challenged book. Not sure what to read? That’s no problem! There’s a huge list here on the Freedom to Read website. Plus we’ll have a number of books available for people to read from.
12:00pm-1:30pm
Author Panel! We’ve invited a number of local authors to come and talk about their personal experiences with censorship. It’s sure to be interesting!
- Susin Nielsen: Author of “Word Nerd”
- Kathryn Shoemaker: UBC Professor & Illustrator of “A Telling Time”
- Judi Saltman: UBC iSchool Professor
1:30pm-3:30pm
Read-A-Thon! Couldn’t make it in the morning? Suddenly inspired by the author panel? There’s still plenty of time to read something scandalous to a room full of your peers.
We’ll also have a table in the foyer of IKBLC from 10:00am-12:00pm to let students know about Freedom to Read week and the Read-A-Thon!
PLUS! Koerner Library will be participating in Freedom to Read Week with displays on their third floor and information posters throughout the library. They’ll also be at our event with a Freedom-to-Read themed game (and prizes!).
If you want to participate in the marathon read, either as a reader or as a room monitor, please sign up here!
There will be snacks!