Today we’re diving into one of the most pressing issues facing libraries right now: intellectual freedom, and the growing wave of challenges to it across Canada. 

Over the past year, we’ve seen a sharp increase in attempts to restrict access to materials, particularly in school libraries, alongside rising political pressure, public controversy, and questions about governance, policy, and professional expertise. 

To help us make sense of what’s happening, we're joined by James Turk, Director of the Centre for Free Expression, who has been closely tracking censorship trends across the country, and his latest report offers one of the clearest and most comprehensive national pictures we have of how and where these challenges are unfolding, and what they mean for library workers, boards, and communities. 

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• Centre for Free Expression - Profiles of Challenged Book 

• Report for Freedom to Read Week - The Rising Demands for Censorship: Challenges in Canadian Libraries in 2025 by James L. Turk 

• "Alberta's access restrictions threaten privacy and democratic role of libraries, critics say" (CBC, April 13, 2026) 

• “Responding to Alberta Government’s Defense of Public Library Takeover” (CFE Blog post, April 30, 2026)  

• Coalition of Alberta Public Libraries  

  
  

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  This podcast is hosted by Michelle Arbuckle and produced by Gina Freitag.  

  Editing and additional production support is completed by Helen Chevreau. 

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