The Jewish Public Library of Montreal is reconsidering its controversial decision to remove the books of author and illustrator Elise Gravel from its shelves.
In a press release, the institution indicates that it has “openly welcomed all the opinions and comments which have recently been addressed to it by its members, its partners and the general public”. It also says “adhere to, support and defend the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” and recognize “the fundamental right to access a wide range of knowledge, creativity, ideas and opinions”.
“The BPJ, like any library, declares that the existence of a particular point of view is an expression of the policy of individual freedom and not an endorsement of this point of view,” we can read in the press release. Consequently, all of the collections held by the BPJ remain accessible. »
The name of Elise Gravel is not mentioned anywhere in the press release, but The Press, an employee confirmed that the popular author and illustrator’s books “were put back in their place, in the children’s corner, on the open shelves.” Previously, library customers could still have access to Elise Gravel’s books, but only at the counter, by asking the librarian.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY LA PRESSE, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Myriam Daguzan Bernier
The decision of the Jewish Public Library of Montreal to blacklist the books of Elise Gravel, who shows her support for the Palestinian people on her social networks, caused a stir last week. The controversy reached the National Assembly: a motion was unanimously adopted to support Elise Gravel as well as another Quebec author, Myriam Daguzan Bernier, whose book All naked! was burned with a flamethrower by a Republican candidate for secretary of state in Missouri.
On Sunday, nearly a hundred people demonstrated their support for Elise Gravel in front of the Jewish Public Library of Montreal, in the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough, at the initiative of the Independent Jewish Voices organization.