Culling the Shelves of School Libraries in Ontario

"[The cull began last January when Thames Valley District school board staff trashed thousands of books posing] harm [to students]."

"Many of them were irreplaceable and priceless -- we had an incredible history section, which was ravaged."

"[This was a] book purge [in an inclusive frenzy] but by definition if you choose to be inclusive, you're excluding. That means denying people access to information."

"[The board's move] has the net outcome of censorship."

Larry Farquharson, 58, teacher-librarian, H.B. Beal Secondary school, London, Thames Valley District 

 

"[The] revitalization project aims to revitalize the collections of [Thames Valley] schools to ensure they are culturally responsive, reflect our diverse student population and contain accurate and up-to-date information."

"The project will focus on deselecting texts with harmful images, messaging, slurs, and racial epithets to facilitate the safety and well-being of all students."

Thames Valley School Board document

Former H.B. Beal Secondary School teacher Larry Farquharson took a photo of some of the thousands of school library books tossed into the recycling last year. The Thames Valley District School Board says the book review was part of an inclusive libraries project. (Submitted by Larry Farquharson)

"[The loss especially of books on Canada's military history can be] notoriously hard to find [for those doing research or reading for pleasure]."

"[It's] a tragedy [if books are thrown out rather than given away]."

"Every year there is a very popular book sale held in Centennial Hall, where book lovers can find books that interest them and these books are not recycled into the trash."

Joe Murray, Canadian military historian 

 

"As a book-lover myself, I was definitely saddened. I can see why it wasn't brought to the trustees' attention if it was regular purging to make room for new books."

"But this amount should have at least been mentioned. I saw the [empty] shelves. It was wild."

Trustee Christian Sachs 

One of 13 elected Thames Valley trustees, Sachs explained that staff informed her they were not given permission to sell or give the discarded books away. They were only to be disposed of in the garbage. The 113-year-old downtown London high school once had an inventory of 18,000 books representing the largest collection in the Thames Valley board, according to teacher-librarian Larry Farquharson who resigned following 25 years of teaching, over the high school's 'book purge'. 

 

The library cull included 128 war history titles, and another 15 from the reference section of the library that were also purged. Books about Shakespeare, other writers and artists, residential schools, teen suicide, addiction, religion, bullying, family violence and child abuse as well as books on sexuality were all purged. Harry Potter novels, Anne of Green Gables, Lord of the Flies, Wuthering Heights, The Kite Runner, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Color Purple were among the many books of fiction that were trashed. 

 

Larry Farquharson, a former teacher-librarian at Beal secondary school in London, says books are being ripped out of libraries to conform and not allow challenges to modern thinking. He is holding a copy of The Canadian Encyclopedia that he says is an example of the type of books being targeted. Photograph taken on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

  

The books at the H.B. Beal school were listed in a spreadsheet that gave their total value at $193,000, but many were irreplaceable. Topics such as the War of 1812, the First and Second World Wars, seven books documenting Canada's contributions during the wars, trench warfare and the Holocaust, and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank were all disposed of. The Gallant Hussars, a history of London's 1st Hussars Regiment from 1856 to 2004, also  trashed. Books by John Steinbeck, Lucy Maud Montgomery and Kurt Vonnegut, all pulled from the shelves. 

 

Schools in Ontario appear to have been infected with a virus of Critical Race Theory/DEI/Woke disease. Peel District school board based in Mississauga (Toronto) was  highlighted in 2023 through an article by author and retired teacher Marjorie Gann, of spurning books that "didn't conform to today's DEI (diversity equity and inclusion) standards".

 

Tom Ellard, Mississauga parent and spokesperson for a group called Libraries Not Landfills stated he can understand the rationale behind "removing old and outdated texts", but he is concerned that such a process can turn into "an ideological purity test". School boards should "trust the librarians and the professionals to manage their libraries".

 

Larry Farquharson had little option left to him but to reluctantly resign from his profession after having been placed on home assignment by the school board for his public resistance against the assault on world literature, depriving a younger generation of the opportunity to inform themselves about the world as it was and as it is. He had been punished with suspension for seven days for insubordination and "disparaging remarks" about the school board. 

 

More than 10,000 books were weeded at H.B. Beal Secondary School's library between January and March 2025. (Submitted by Larry Farquharson)

"[Trustees were not informed that 10,000 books were tossed from the library shelves at London's H.B. Beal secondary school because the move was deemed] operational. [Trustees are] governance, not operational."

"Looking at our libraries and making sure we have  up-to-date books is always good, making sure we have books kids want to read."

"I don't know enough about why they culled these books, but I was looking at [the titles] -- Harry Potter, Lord of the Flies. I wonder why those were removed."

Lori-Ann Pizzolato, former chair, Thomas Valley District school board 

 

The Structural Dominance of White Supremacy

"Self-identification is sufficient for trans students and employees to be addressed by their chosen name and pronouns and to be recognized according to their gender identity."

"Staff shall maintain privacy and confidentiality of trans students and will not disclose a student's gender identity to the students' parent/family/guardian, employees or other students without the student's explicit prior consent and unless the student requests it."

Durham District School Board, Ontario

"How many different pronouns must a teacher memorize? If 23 students all have different pronouns and the teacher gets one wrong, would that be grounds for a complaint?"

"I was a little disturbed to see that you would keep things private with the student and not let parents know."

"[Students requesting a change of gender might be best advised to] seek counselling to find out whether or not something else may be interfering with what the child is actually going through."

Linda Stone, trustee, Durham District School Board

Linda Stone, a trustee for the Durham District School Board, is pictured in a Nov. 2021 school board meeting as she questions the district's policy of "affirming" children's gender transitions without informing parents. These comments were cited by fellow trustees in ordering her censure. Photo by YouTube/Durham District School Board

"Transphobia has no place in our schools or school boards", a fellow trustee wrote in a tweet following the Ontario school board's censure of one of its trustees. Trustee Linda Stone was barred from attending board meetings after having publicly questioned the stated policy of the district in accommodating a student's decision to switch genders, the while maintaining it as a secret from their parents.

Henceforth trustee Stone is barred from all board meetings and committee hearings for all of 2023. The board's statement concerning the "harmful impact" of Stone's comments, urging the community to "begin to  heal", came down solidly in favour of silencing anyone who questions their decisions or recommends other, alternative courses of action. Needless to say, trustees are voted into office through a democratic proces by the public choosing who will represent their interests in a school district, among them parents of children attending public schools.

Throughout the Province of Ontario, including Canada's largest city's Toronto District School Board, it is forbidden to question Trans policies accommodating the issue of transgender choices and accommodation. Teachers who express any shadpw of skepticism, asking questions, making recommendations, are sent home on paid leave, not to return to the classroom.

 

DDSB public school trustee Linda Stone is interviewed by Rogers TV Durham on the opening of two new schools in Oshawa   Facebook

 

In the case of the removed trustee, a 55-page report commissioned from an outside investigator concluded that Trustee Stone was guilty of espousing "racist" and "transphobic" viewpoints causing "objective harm" to the transcommunity. She had questioned the district's policy of concealing a child's gender transition from parents. The school board's official "accommodation guidelines" are that a student can change gender simply by declaring so and staff are explicitly forbidden from questioning the new identity or failing to provide appropriate "affirmation". 

Trustee Stone's comments were said to have spurred a few complaints to the board -- of Ms.Stone violating the "equiity and diversity initiative" of the district. The report by the investigator focused on her "antitrans" Twitter history where she retweeted a post from a mother that her daughter's U13 rugby team played against an opponent with "two large boys in it", referring to trans girls.

Another occasion saw her posting a link to testimony from Chloe Cole, a California teen who campaigns against trans surgery for minors following her own double mastectomy while in high school. It was that tweet which reflected the comment in the report that Trustee Stone was circulating "antitrans language", perpetuating "harmful narratives around transgender people." Trustee Stone was said to be "racist" when she opposed changes to district policies claiming the district was infiltrated with "systemic racism" enabled by "the structural dominance of white supremacy".

Another Ontario school trustee, Mike Ramsay, was censured for critiquing the presence of "anti-racism" ideology in the school curriculum -- and that, despite that he is himself Back. Trustee Stone had posted a tweet condemning the teaching of critical race theory; in fact she was re-posting a tweet that originated with Mike Ramsay. 

Another incident in Waterloo, Ontario saw teacher Carolyn Burjoski registering her concerns at a school board meeting, over school library books she identified as glossing over the long-term consequences of gender transition surgery and hormone treatment. One book entitled The Other Boy, had the main character say "it's cool" when informed gender transition would render permanent sterilization. The teacher was issued with a "stay-at-home" order.

Smugly Woke

"Hate, racism and xenophobia are not 'opinions' that should be gathered through consultation." 

"The hallmarks of a democratic public education system should be that we serve all students well, especially those with the least power."

Waterloo (Ontario) District Region School Board

 

"While we acknowledge the celebration of Valentine's Day, and are mindful of the popularity of that day, it is not celebrated by all students/families in our community."

"It is essential that all students feel welcomed and reflected at school, and that our celebrations do not negatively impact our families and students."

Jean Steckle Public School

In 2021, the school banned the bringing of paper valentines onto school property on the grounds that they were “non-essential materials” that could act as a vector for infectious disease. For this year, however, it was reasons of health and equity that inspired a similar order. Photo by Getty

There was a time, not that long ago, when immigrants to a new country thought it their civic obligation to blend their inherited cultural values with those of the welcoming country. The idea was to become an equal citizen of the new country, one that celebrated its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural heritage, one that officially recognized the backgrounds of newcomers, inviting them to adapt to Canadian values, culture and system of equality. 

There was a time long ago when colonizers of a country set about destroying the values, heritage memories and culture of a country they had occupied to make their own, establishing a series of laws making it mandatory for the colonized indigenous population to learn a new language, practise new customs, obey different laws. That is something that prevails to the present time under the guidance of 'benevolent' dictators.

Well, surprise, the new woke theology that now consumes the civilized world has decided to turn these customs upside down and inside-out; receiving countries must now abrogate their customary values and customs, making them subservient to the presumed needs of incoming citizens who originate elsewhere bringing with them customs and traditions different and occasionally in opposition to Canada's. But the newly introduced-by-immigration values and customs are to be given priority.

It is all explained in the mantra of 'Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity". Which, evidently, though a noble enough goal, cannot be attained without the subjugation of the prevailing system which must, for DIE to be achieved, consider itself outdated, impotent and harmful to the extent that anyone considered "White" must agree that they are unreasonably privileged and prepare themselves to shed that privilege in the greater interests of elevating Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.

And this is what has captured the intentions of governments of all levels, of public institutions, of universities and schools and corporate boards of directors. No one wants to be labelled "racist" or "homophobic", "bigoted" or an "imperialist of White entitlement". It is the age of cancellations; of ethically and morally reprehensible speakers whose values are other than 'woke'. Cancellations of heroic-statues standing in public squares, of building and street names, and of public holidays.

Now it's St.Valentine's Day's turn. So sad. Hallowe'en may be next. And after that, Christmas? The Steckle family, one of whose members the name of the school honours, was a white pioneering family who lived in the area. They were a farming family; the first white child born in the area was of the Steckle family. Never might it have occurred to any of them that their family name would be associated with a school whose board would consider them White settlers who oppressed the Indigenous population of the time.

The 750 students of the elementary school have long been accustomed to celebrating Valentine's Day on the 14th of February even to a Valentine's Day dance organized by the school for their grades seven and eight students back in 2015. But in 2021 paper valentines became the target of "non-essential materials" with the potential of spreading infectious disease. This year carried the distaste for an originally Christian festival, forward, to ban Valentine's Day cards and treats.

Valentine's Day imposes a "financial strain" on families urged to "purchase cards or sweets" by custom, and promoting candy represented aw "inconsistent with the Healthy Schools approach" dilemma, since the point is to "decrease health inequities among the student population". The Waterloo Region District School Board has appeared in the news for other events.

Teacher Carolyn Burjoski was given a "stay-at-home" order because she raised concerns about illustrated storybooks in school libraries dismissing medical side effects of gender transitioning, implying a lack of sexual thoughts may be a sign of an asexual gender identity. "Maybe Rick [the book protagonist) doesn't have sexual feelings yet because he is a child", she said.

When parents objected to the cancellation of Valentine's Day, school parents were sent a lengthy open letter that inferred hate and transphobic bigotry had motivated a delegation of concerned parents to a recent board meeting. The concern parents wanted to air was a student census explicitly asking young students of their ethnic background and sexual orientation, along with a school policy of instantly accommodating a child's wish for gender transition without informing guardians.

The board's only Black trustee, Mike Ramsay, was censured when he objected to lesson plans encouraging Caucasian students to recognize their "white privilege". "Most trustees see me as the wrong kind of Black man", wrote Mr. Ramsay in an op-ed for the Waterloo Region Record newspaper. In the world of Islam, observations of Valentine's Day are banned for their presumed promotion of immorality and indecency.

Pexels/Kaboompics)

"Due to the disparity traditional Valentine's Day activities may highlight for some families, several of our schools will forgo the exchange of Valentine's Day cards this year,"

"Instead, students will learn about caring and kindness on Valentine's Day, while educators continue to focus on our commitment to equity."

Peel District School Board, Peel Region, Ontario