Open Statement – Truth and Reconciliation – Access to Data and InformationPublic libraries at their core are community hubs and gathering spaces for people and ideas. As stewards of open and equitable access to information, we stand with Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation, and all Indigenous communities across Turtle Island, in mourning the loss of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School and honouring the survivors of residential schools.
Given public libraries’ fundamental value of providing universal access to information, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council/Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada strongly urges all stakeholders, to openly share the records, archives and any documentation that will facilitate proper accounting by all those impacted, allowing the truth to be further uncovered and enabling reconciliation to begin. We urge all organizations to earnestly renew their efforts to openly shared documents to fulfill the shared responsibility to reveal and honour the truth.
Canadians can count on their public libraries to access the full reports and findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in a variety of formats. The shorter calls to action are here: http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf.
The Canadian Urban Libraries Council/Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada has fifty member library systems and facilitates collaboration and research to strengthen and promote the value of Canada’s urban public libraries as integral to a vibrant democracy, strong economy and thriving communities. Over 8,300 people are employed full-time by CULC/CBUC members and 70 per cent of Canadians are served by a CULC/CBUC member library.