The Ex Libris Association of Canada is deeply concerned about the decision by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) to eliminate all librarian positions in federal penitentiaries across Canada. Coupled with its intention to end funding for the CEGEP education program serving incarcerated people in Quebec’s federal institutions, this represents a sweeping and regressive dismantling of rehabilitative infrastructure within our prison system.

The Ex Libris Association’s over 200 members are retired librarians, archivists and information professionals. We have decades of experience offering library and information services to community members, students and faculty at all educational levels and government libraries. We are clear that a prison library without a librarian is not a fully functioning library.

CSC librarians are trained educators and information specialists who curate collections, protect equitable access, support legal research and literacy, deliver programming, and ensure that the most marginalized individuals in CSC’s custody can exercise their rights and pursue personal growth. There are at least 31 CSC librarians employed across 38 unique federal prison libraries who hold vital institutional knowledge — knowledge of security protocols, inmate learning needs, culturally appropriate collections, and trauma-informed service — that cannot simply be “absorbed” or replaced without consequence.

CSC’s own mandate under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is to contribute to public safety by assisting offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens. We firmly believe that access to education, information, and literacy is central to that mandate.

Rule 64 of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules (United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners) is explicit: “Every prison shall have a library for the use of all categories of prisoners, adequately stocked with both recreational and instructional books, and prisoners shall be encouraged to make full use of it.” These commitments require professional oversight and sustained investment.

These librarians are among the lowest-paid professionals in the federal system. The savings will be marginal, the damage - to rehabilitation, to institutional stability, to legal literacy, to mental health, and ultimately to public safety - will be profound.

This is not merely a budgetary adjustment. It is a policy choice that disproportionately harms those already marginalized and contradicts Canada’s stated commitment to evidence-based corrections and human rights leadership.

Ex Libris joins with Book Clubs for Inmates to urge The Honourable Gary Anandasangaree, Minister of Public Safety to direct the Commissioner to immediately undertake a genuine and substantive consultation with frontline professionals in education, social programs, and security across the country to identify alternative, responsible savings that meet budgetary mandates without dismantling foundational rehabilitative services.

We therefore call on the Minister of Public Safety to:

▪ Immediately suspend the elimination of all librarian positions in federal institutions;
▪ Reverse the termination of the CEGEP education program in Quebec federal prisons; and
▪ Publicly clarify how CSC intends to uphold its statutory and human rights obligations with respect to access to education and information by May 1, 2026.

Public safety is not strengthened by shrinking the pathways to literacy, learning, and lawful reintegration. It is strengthened by investing in them.

Signed,

Advocacy Committee, Ex Libris Association