Medicine Hat library encourages intellectual freedom for ‘Freedom to Read Week’

It also encourages citizens to actively defend their right to publish, read and write freely.

“To me, it seems self-evident that people should be able to read freely, in a free democracy, but not everybody believes that,” Feser said.

“Some people- even with good intentions- people might question that. Say, ‘Well, you should only have the books that have the truth in them,” he added.

“But what is the truth? That’s a very difficult thing sometimes. You know, a very subjective thing.”

“It seems self-evident that people should be able to read freely,” said Feser. Jayk Sterkenburg/CHAT News

Feser said that the library has a value of having a wide collection that has something for everyone.

“You pick what you want to read, and pick what you choose to learn from those books you read,” he said.

Feser said that this is a good week to raise awareness of the issue of censorship, and start a conversation in hopes of allowing people to see the value of intellectual freedom.

He acknowledges that there is what’s considered illegal forms of speech, or information that isn’t given in good faith.

The library has criteria in picking which books they offer, based off of quality of the material and writing, and community desire.

Feser said that the wide range of books that the library can distribute is taken seriously.

“There’s an old saying that ‘A good library has something to offend everyone’. And that’s kind of a humourous thing, but there’s some truth in that, too,” he said.

“You don’t need to like everything here. Some stuff you wouldn’t maybe even choose to read, but it’s here for your neighbours,” he added.

“Everything that we have, it’s picked because somebody in the community wants it.”

Feser said that Freedom to Read Week is a time to bring awareness to the matter but added it’s something the library practices all year round.

by Jayk Sterkenburg

Medicine Hat library encourages intellectual freedom for ‘Freedom to Read Week’

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