What’s the most important celebration in February? No, it’s not Valentine’s Day... it’s Freedom to Read Week! Every year, libraries and partners around Canada spend the last week of February honouring our country’s strong traditions of free expression and free inquiry. Here at Edmonton Public Library we’re passionate about Intellectual Freedom and we can’t imagine a world without it.
We’re also passionate about our partnerships, which is why we’re incredibly excited to be partnering with Metro Cinema on a special event during Freedom to Read Week. On Friday, Feb 27th, Metro Cinema and Edmonton Public Library will be showing Kim A. Snyder’s 2025 acclaimed documentary The Librarians, which follows a group of librarians in the United States uniting to combat book banning amid unprecedented censorship in Texas, Florida, and beyond.
Following the showing of this documentary, EPL is pleased to present a panel discussing the core themes of the film, and how arts organizations in Edmonton are doing our own challenging work of defending free expression. Our panelists include:
- Vicky Varga (Executive Director, Collections & Technology, Edmonton Public Library)
- Murray Utas, Artistic Director of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival
- Arianne Smith-Piquette, Content Director at CKUA Radio
- Peter Midgley, author, editor and translator
- Moderator: Tara McCarthy, CBC Radio One
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