Sending Love: Canadians Standing Up For the Valleyview Library

Canadian Anti-Hate Network

Source: Denin Lawley/Unsplash

Following a report by the Fifth Estate, and the town council voted to close the library—which supports the town's Gay Straight Alliance for youth—the Canadian Anti-Hate Network issued a call out for letters of support for the library staff and kids who gather there. 

Since February 11, we have received close to 200 letters. We heard stories from people who grew up in rural communities, parents of trans kids, and community members themselves. Their message was clear: we support you, we stand with you and we love you. 

Some of our favourite letters that we received are published below, with permission from the authors. 

If you’d like to send a Love Letter to Valleyview Municipal Library, click here, or email us at [email protected]. 

I watched the 5th Estate documentary with horror at how hate is fueling attacks on libraries and their users- particularly 2SLGBTQIA+ teens - and want both the staff of Valleyview Library as well as these courageous kids who use it to know that there are hundreds and thousands of us who find the closing of the library reprehensible. 

As a former staff member of Toronto Public Library, where I was Program Coordinator before the amalgamation of the City of Toronto, I had the opportunity to create programs for Freedom to Read Week that focused on banned books including a star-studded reading of Margaret Laurence’s classic, The Diviners and, later children’s author Kevin Major’s Hold Fast. I also had the honour to create readings celebrating TPL’s Gay and Lesbian Collection (created in May 1991) which was spearheaded by my late colleagues Bruce Worden and Tom Jordan, both of them victims of the AIDS crisis, with some of Canada’s most prominent 2SLGBTQIA+ writers. I am very aware of attacks on public libraries across Canada - particularly in our Western provinces - and know, as a passionate advocate for children’s and YA books, as a book reviewer for The Globe and Mail since 2019 and as a reader how key it is that library collections are diverse and offer support to readers who may not get that kind of support at home. 

As a gay man in my 60s, I grew up without seeing myself represented in the books that I read and it wasn’t until my late teens that I started to discover representations of queerness in the very few YA books published in the late 1970s - and I grew up in Toronto where there was an active and vibrant and supportive 2SLGBTQIA+ community that I didn’t have a clue existed. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for the young people in Valleyview.

I like to say that it was Toronto Public library that queered me - library branches had copies of the groundbreaking periodical The Body Politic which  in the late 70s showed me a support network that became key to my exploring my queer identity- a young librarian, the late Michael Pearl, at the Forest Hill branch where I worked at as a page made sure that the branch had copies of books by gay writers like Christopher Isherwood, EM Forster, Jean Genet but there was almost nothing Canadian and nothing about being queer in Toronto. 

As a lecturer at York University, I always included 2SLGBTQIA+ texts in my children’s literature courses even the students questioned why these were included because representation is key to developing empathy and understanding. As a storyteller, I’m part of Canada’s only 2SLGBTQIA+ storytelling collective, celebrating its 29th anniversary this spring because making space for 2SLGBTQIA+ voices is key to my vision as an educator. In the courses I teach, it’s my mandate to help queer folx, no matter how they self-identify, to tell their stories because, like books and reading, we gain empathy and understanding by the sharing of stories. 

I believe that seeing yourself, your family, your community, your allies represented in books is as essential for children and young people as it is for adult and I hope that the librarians and the young people of Valleyview stay strong despite this disappointing setback. 

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to support Valleyview Library and especially Theo and their remarkable friends and colleagues. 

Not only am I sending you this letter of support but I am posting your call to action on all my social media accounts.

Thank you Canadian Anti-Hate Network for your support in this fight for the freedom to read! 

In solidarity 

Jeffrey Canton
Writer, storyteller, activist

Hey folkx! I am a Native mom. I was a young Native girl that grew up in (at the time) a small town in Alberta. I know what it feels like to feel unsafe. My library was my sanctuary, and a place a book was an escape to while satisfying my curiosities about the world. Librarians are a gift and libraries a safe space to thrive. The rest of Canada sees you. You are perfect the way you are.

Michelle Robinson from Calgary/Moh’kins’tsis

Hang in there Valleyview Library! Libraries can and should be safe spaces for everyone, with no limitations as to who can use the space. Library books should reflect the lived experience of those who use them, as well as opening up our inner worlds to what we may not have considered. I met my first gay person in the form of a fictional character in a book, and it made the world of difference for when I met real life members of the 2SLGBQiA+ community. I am a United Church minister to a fully Affirming church, and the aunt of a non-binary young adult, as well as a friend to many across the spectrum. Theo and friends, you are cared for and appreciated. It takes courage to be who you are when people around you are telling you that you can’t or shouldn’t exist. Be of good courage, stand up for your rights, and don’t let those conservative voices shut you down.

Sincerely,
The Reverend Heidi Koschzeck

Hello Valleyview Public Library,

I am heartbroken to hear of the loss of what was such a wonderful space for young residents to feel safe, express themselves, and be free to learn and share with others.

I want you to know as a member of the LGBTQ community who also grew up in small town Alberta that I see you. It’s a terrifying time we’re living through right now with those that want to harm us, take away our human rights, and suppress our freedom. I know I’m scared too. But I also have so much faith and hope when I hear stories like yours, even when they’re sad. It helps me to remember that we are everywhere, we have always been everywhere, and we will ALWAYS BE everywhere. Nothing can change that. There will always be LGBTQ youth in Valleyview just like there was, is, and will be where I grew up. It is always worth it to stick up for them and make it known that they are seen and loved by members of their community, ESPECIALLY when that community may be largely unsafe for them. What you’ve all created must have been so powerful for those young people, they will never forget it.

So long as there are people fighting for our right to exist freely and peacefully we will make it. We CAN and WILL get there. We can’t ever give up. A better world is possible, and the kids have to see we’re fighting for them and with them.

Much love and encouragement,

‘A from Edmonton’

I am an old lady now. In the early '70's, when I was married and living in Toronto, where I stil live, although originally from Saskatoon, my husband "came out". At least that is what we called it in those days. A very brave thing to do in 1977. He was from a small farm in Saskatchewan and we had been together for nearly 10 years. We divorced, but remained each other's best friends until he died in 1988 in Saskatoon. He had AIDS. We had fought very hard before he moved back to Saskatoon, for Gay Rights and trying to make sense of the world as it struggled with the AIDS epidemic. In those days, if you had AIDS and died you were not allowed to have an open casket, because there was a fear that you could "Catch it." He continued to work with the gay community in Saskatoon and I continued to volunteer in Toronto. In health care where I worked as a Training Specialist, many nurses refused to treat AIDS patients because it was "against their religion." Every year I go to the PRIDE parade in Toronto to honour all the gay people who now have the freedoms to be who they are and not have to hide anymore. I do it to honour my husband who, with me, fought so very hard for gay freedoms. I thought we were well past what we are now seeing. Apparently, we are not. Why are we still struggling with this issue?

Nobody chooses to be gay or trans or straight or any of the other letters that I can no longer remember or keep straight. (oops, bad pun!) As a former teacher and adult educator I know full well what teachers have to deal with. Keep up the good work. Nobody, including you, should ever feel "less than". It is up to all of us to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. This is Canada. We treat EVERYONE with respect. Or we used to.

I am nearly 75 and can no longer walk in the marches, sing the songs and volunteer non-stop for our freedom. It is up to you and I applaud you for your wonderful work and commitment.

Respectfully yours,
Margaret Yanicki
Toronto, ON

Dear Valleyview Public Library staff and supporters, and GSA members,

Libraries were a hugely important part of my life growing up- I was lucky enough to have a great local library and parents who were able to drive me there every week. They've continued to be a big part of my life- as an adult, as a parent, and as an author. I write books for kids and teens, including many that are in your library collection, and a number of which are about LGBTQ+ history, rights, and characters.

As a queer author-- and as someone who has spent a lot of time meeting with GSAs and other queer youth groups, and knows how very important they are-- I was horrified to hear about the attack on LGBTQ+ books, identities and community in your town. I wanted to reach out to send a strong message of support to your library staff, and to the youth who meet in your library, and to thank them all for speaking up against the voices of bigotry and hate.

Everyone deserves to have access to books where they can see people like themselves on the page, and everyone deserves a safe space to meet and find community.

Sending strength and solidarity from the West coast,

Robin Stevenson
Author of books for kids and teens 
https://robinstevenson.com/
https://robinstevenson.com/books/