In 2008 at the CAUT LIbrarians conference in Ottawa, Toni Samek spoke about how librarians - the people who fight for freedom of expression for society as a whole - rarely enjoy freedom of expression themselves. Her talk focused on workplace speech but the experience of several active and retired librarians at the recent Canadian Librarian Association (CLA) conference in Ottawa went beyond restrictions on workplace speech; librarians were silenced at their own conference for trying to raise awareness of the current challenges to Library and Archives (LAC.)
The Canadian Library Association believes in promulgating fact.
So let me clarify.
No registered delegates were asked to leave, to stop placing bookmarks, or to stop handing out materials.
Non-registered people were respectfully asked to move outside the CLA conference space. They were still able to distribute their materials within the convention centre.
Karen Adams
President, Canadian Library Association