On this episode of Humans, on Rights, we talk to Kirsten Wurmann, the Program Director for the Manitoba Library Association about how libraries are feeling pressure to remove certain books from the library and because of that libraries should not be neutral spaces. Libraries need to be accountable to our community and our community is comprised of people from a myriad of backgrounds. She believes that libraries must reflect the communities that we serve, and that all of our community members should feel represented within their library collection. Therefore, Wurmann says libraries are not neutral because we do care about the community so much and that’s what guides our work.Kirsten Wurmann is passionate about human rights, about diversity, about inclusivity and accessibility. And all those values need to be reflected when someone walks into a library.With the support of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, the Manitoba Library Association has announced a new award called the Human Rights Book Award. This Human Rights Book Award will support and recognize Manitoba libraries hard work to uphold library values of intellectual freedom while at the same time reflecting their community’s need for inclusive and diverse library spaces. If you want to nominate someone or a library, go to www.mla.mb.ca and go to the MLA Award Nomination Form.

NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR THE NOMINATIONAS FOR THE 2024 AWARD IS MAY1, 2024.

Wurmann has worked tirelessly as a volunteer to bring books and create a library inside provincial carceral institutions where libraries are currently not legislated. She is a Member, Prison Libraries Committee. If you want to find a way to support this program, please go to www.mla.mb.ca.X:

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