Sonia Bebbington, Chief Librarian/CEO, Sarah Macintyre, A/Division Manager, Client Services, and Alexandra Yarrow, Program Manager, Board and Strategic Services presented the Board with a high-level summary of the 2023 challenges to items in the OPL collection.
Ms. Bebbington noted that the report reflects the first calendar year since the adoption of OPL’s revised Intellectual Freedom Position Statement (“the Statement”), approved by the Board in June 2022. Ms. Yarrow provided additional context about the importance of free expression in OPL’s services; Ms. Macintyre summarized recent data regarding Requests for Reconsideration received by OPL in the last eight years and provided details regarding Requests for Reconsideration received by OPL in 2023. Ms. Yarrow provided trustees with information about additional resources and about upcoming Freedom to Read Week activities at OPL. In closing, she also noted that staff will continue to work on implementing changes to administrative operations to align with the Intellectual Freedom Position Statement, and committed that staff will provide the next annual report to the Board in Q1 2025.
The Chair opened the floor to questions from trustees regarding the report.
Trustee Smith inquired whether OPL tracks books that go missing from the collection and how that information is measured over time. After clarifying that the trustee was referring to clients taking items from the collection so that they are no longer available for others to borrow, Ms. Macintyre commented that that it is difficult to infer reasons for missing items (they could be misplaced, marked as lost, or damaged). She replied that she would report back to the Board regarding details of missing items over time, with the data available.
In reference to the graph indicating Requests for Reconsideration in the last eight years, Chair Luloff inquired regarding the number of items removed from the collection over that period of time, and whether staff were considering a reconciliation of these items in light of the revised Board Intellectual Freedom Position Statement. Ms. Macintyre indicated she would report back on these numbers following the meeting. Chair Luloff thanked staff for the great work.
In response to a question from Trustee Crawford regarding whether there were certain observable trends in the subject matter of books that go missing from the collection, Ms. Macintyre said that information could be included in a response to the Board at a later date.
Trustee King commended staff for their good work ensuring compliance with the Board’s Intellectual Freedom Position Statement. Noting that OPL submits challenged titles to the Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) survey, he added that there was a tremendous amount of discussion about the importance of the CFLA survey to measure cross-country trends at the recent Ontario Library Association Conference he attended. Trustee King added that he found the high rates of under-reported challenges discussed at the conference significant, and noted his pride in hearing that OPL and Toronto Public Library are on the cutting edge of reporting. In closing, he commented that his impression at the conference was that OPL is a good example of the importance of having strong policies in place to strengthen intellectual freedom.
In response to a question from Vice-Chair Fisher regarding the history of the Book Sanctuary and whether OPL’s Book Sanctuary is a first for a large urban public library, Ms. Bebbington responded that the Book Sanctuary movement began in September 2022 when the Chicago Public Library declared themselves a space for endangered stories and called for others to do the same. She noted that Toronto Public Library is OPL’s closest neighbour to participate in this initiative, and that that Calgary is also a Book Sanctuary. OPL’s Book Sanctuary includes adult, teen, and children’s books: criteria included titles that have been challenged at OPL or in other libraries across Canada and the United States, with a mix of historical and current tiles, French and English titles, as well as range of frequently challenged topics and diverse perspectives. Ms. Yarrow added that approximately a dozen public libraries are participating in the Book Sanctuary movement, as well as a number of other municipalities or other organizations or entities.
In closing, Chair Luloff observed that upholding the Board’s Intellectual Freedom Position Statement takes a strong commitment, and that OPL will continue to receive challenges. He shared that he feels strongly that engaging with material that you don’t necessarily agree with provides perspective on a given topic: you may shift, or you may reaffirm your values and beliefs on that subject. Both potential outcomes are valuable in a democratic society. The Chair said he is very proud of the work that OPL is doing in this area.
There being no further discussion, the report was RECEIVED as presented.
MOTION OPL 20240213/4
That the Ottawa Public Library Board receive this report for information.
Results: Received