Ottawa Public Library

Building a strong Ottawa community by supporting literacy and life-long learning, fostering inspiration and enjoyment, and connecting people to each other and the world.

In pursuit of the mission statement, the Ottawa Public Library will provide, in both English and French, customer driven and customer focused collections. Collections are accessible to all of the people of Ottawa no matter where they reside. The Ottawa Public Library is one system with one collection.

Canadian Library Association Statement on Intellectual Freedom:
All persons in Canada have the fundamental right, as embodied in the nation's Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express their thoughts publicly. This right to intellectual freedom, under the law, is essential to the health and development of Canadian society

Libraries have a basic responsibility for the development and maintenance of intellectual freedom.

It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.