The Manitoba Library Association’s first-ever Human Rights Award was officially presented last Thursday to Cathy Ching and the South Central Regional Library (SCRL).
The director of library services and her team received the honour for remaining steadfast and positive throughout the recent censorship challenges faced by SCRL branches in connection to certain books on their shelves that some community members feel are inappropriate.
The award was inspired by the pressures and challenges that all libraries face in such areas as intellectual freedom and access to information, but the library network here really set an example for others, suggested Kirsten Wurmann, program co-ordinator for the Manitoba Library Association.
“I think that’s inspiring for all library workers really around the province … it was a no-brainer that this library would win the inaugural Human Rights Award,” said Wurmann.
“They worked so passionately and good naturedly throughout the whole ordeal … just staying really, really true to the values of librarianship and the values that this space and the books and the materials inside of it are for everyone in the community and that access to all is really of upmost importance.”
The Manitoba Library Association noted how libraries are helping uphold the fundamental values of intellectual freedom, inclusion, and diversity, despite recent calls for censorship and the harassment of library workers.
Appreciating this important yet often unrecognized work, the association alongside the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers presented the award to Ching and the South Central Regional Library in recognition of their “strong resolve in upholding human rights, inclusivity and equity in library access for their library or in the library community at a local, regional, provincial or national level.”
As part of the award, SCRL received 15 books from Manitoba publishers.
Ching described it as an emotional day for her and her staff.
“It’s been just a journey in the last month since we heard about this, and I am overwhelmed by the support from our community,” she said.
“It’s empowering. It finally gives us the authority to move forward with confidence that we did the right thing. There were times where it would have been easier to just say, ‘Okay, fine’ … everybody was working so hard to do what we needed to do in order to keep books accessible to everyone.”
