Intellectual Freedom and Challenged Materials Policy - AMAR
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Village of Marwayne Library Board Intellectual Freedom and Challenged Materials Policy
The Village of Marwayne Library Board recognizes and values the Canadian of Rights and Freedoms as
the guarantor of the fundamental freedoms in Canada of conscience and religion; of thought, belief,
opinion, and expressions; of peaceful assembly; and of association.
The Village of Marwayne Library Board supports and promotes the universal principles of
intellectual freedom as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which include the
interlocking freedoms to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.
In accordance with these principles, the Village of Marwayne Library Board affirms that all persons
in Canada have a fundamental right, subject only to the Constitution and the law, to have access to
the full range of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinion, and to express their thoughts
publicly. Only the courts may abridge free expression rights in Canada.
The Village of Marwayne Library Board affirms further that libraries have a core responsibility to
support, defend and promote the universal principles of intellectual freedom and privacy.
The Village of Marwayne Library Board holds that libraries are a key institution in Canada for
rendering expressive content accessible and affordable to all. Libraries are essential gateways for
all person living in Canada to advance themselves through literacy, lifelong learning, social
engagement, and cultural enrichment.
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and facilitate access to constitutionally
protected expressions of knowledge, imagination, ideas, and opinions, including those which some
individuals and groups consider unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, in
accordance with their mandates and professional values and standards, libraries provide, defend and
promote equitable access to the widest possible variety of expressive content and resist calls for
censorship and the adoption of systems that deny or restrict access to resources.
Libraries have a core responsibility to safeguard and foster free expression and the right to safe
and welcoming places and conditions. To this end, libraries make available their public spaces and
services to individuals and groups without discrimination.