Letters of Support

Centralizing control at the provincial level threatens that balance and risks harming institutions that already function well and are widely trusted.

We share the concerns articulated by the Coalition of Alberta Public Libraries, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and library leaders across the country that Bill 28 would create new barriers to access, raise serious privacy implications...

Public libraries must remain free from partisan interference and continue to serve as spaces where every person can freely access information and ideas without fear or restriction....

We urge the Government of Alberta to withdraw all provisions of Bill 28 that pertain to the Libraries Act. Public libraries must remain free from partisan interference and continue to serve as spaces...

While presented as a safeguard, this approach introduces vague and subjective criteria that place an unnecessary administrative burden on library systems and staff...

Public libraries in Alberta do not collect or distribute illegal, obscene, or pornographic materials. Collections are developed by trained professionals...

Censorship has wide-spread chilling effects. Its purpose is to create distrust for the very things that enable individuals to think, learn, and decide for themselves...

Bill 28 represents a significant shift away from Alberta’s long-standing model of locally governed, community-responsive public libraries...

Library workers across Alberta are deeply concerned about the direction this legislation takes. It is not grounded in evidence, does not reflect how libraries operate...

As the representative organization of Canada’s urban libraries, we are concerned that Alberta’s legislation is a first step toward government control...

As cornerstones of democracy, it is incumbent upon libraries, and those that support them, to stand up against all efforts to impede the democratic process and limit the full participation in civic life...

For a provincial government whose favourite gripe with the federal government is about overreach, they sure do love taking control away from municipalities...

CSU 52 is deeply concerned by the Alberta government’s Bill 28. This legislation risks setting a troubling precedent, opening the door to...