This study examines the extent to which librarians employed at Canadian universities have academic freedom protection with respect to the right and responsibility to engage in research and scholarship as part of their normal workload and the right to pursue unrestricted lines of inquiry in research and scholarship. An analysis of the terms and conditions of employment for Canadian academic librarians and the results of a nationwide survey reveal that the majority are protected by academic freedom in their contractual agreements. The findings also reveal that the inclusion of research and scholarship as part of normal workload is a challenge for many librarians, definitions for research and scholarship vary across institutions, and time constraints impede the ability of librarians to conduct research and scholarship.
Academic Librarianship: A Crisis or an Opportunity?" was a one day symposium held at the University of Toronto on November 18, 2011. The symposium provided a forum for stakeholders to consider recent troubling events and developments in the academic library community. The hiring of postdoctoral fellows at McMaster University to replace librarians, the strike by professional librarians at University of Western Ontario in 2011 and threats to the academic freedom of librarians at McGill University have all served as bellwethers and have been rich topics for debate of late. The symposium was intended to provide an opportunity to bring more coherence to the discourse and to consider further initiatives, increased activism, and to begin a process for providing greater leadership around issues relating to academic librarians and academic librarianship.
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