What is happening?

For far too long, the Azerbaijani community in Vancouver, in British Columbia, and mostly across Canada has been entirely excluded from public library collections. Despite being a vibrant, growing community that contributes deeply to Canada’s cultural mosaic, not a single public library in Vancouver or anywhere in BC offers Azerbaijani-language books for children, youth, or adults. We see this as a systemic failure—one that leads to cultural erasure, misunderstanding, and missed opportunities for education, appreciation, and dialogue.

The Canadian Azerbaijanis Society of BC is taking the initiative to change this by advocating for the inclusion of Azerbaijani literature in public libraries and calling for an immediate end to the refusal of Azerbaijani book donations. 

Our Community Matters! Our Language Matters! Our Stories Matter!

What happened that led to this petition?

• Azerbaijani literature is strikingly absent from public libraries in Vancouver, BC, and across most of Canada, even as other smaller communities are represented on the shelves.
• Offers to donate books and provide vendor information have been rejected without valid explanation.

Why This Matters:

1. Azerbaijani Canadians, including children and newcomers, are growing up with no access to literature in their mother tongue.
2. Seniors are isolated from the comfort and familiarity of reading in their first language.
3. This creates a dangerous knowledge gap, allowing Azerbaijani identity and culture to be easily misrepresented or even intentionally distorted, especially by those with political motives.
4. Lack of Knowledge Leads to Misrepresentation:
   • When Azerbaijani stories, traditions, and voices are not accessible in public spaces like libraries, ignorance thrives. This creates an environment where:

• • • Fellow Canadians misunderstand or misjudge the Azerbaijani people due to lack of access to our authentic culture, values, literature, food and music traditions.
    • Misinformation spreads easily, often influenced by political biases or historical propaganda.
    • Travelers interested in visiting Azerbaijan are left with no trustworthy library resources—no travel guides, no cultural backgrounders, no books to help them understand the beauty and complexity of the region.         

Canada prides itself on being multicultural, but what does multiculturalism mean if an entire nation and language group is erased from public access? 

We Call for the Following Actions:

1. Immediate acquisition of Azerbaijani-language books and materials for public libraries in Vancouver and across BC.
2. A clear and public timeline for expanding multicultural collections to include Azerbaijani resources.
3. Direct collaboration with Azerbaijani Canadian organizations to guide sourcing and selection of books.
4. A transparent review and reform of existing acquisition policies that currently exclude underrepresented groups.
5. Support from Library and Archives Canada to preserve and promote Azerbaijani Canadian voices and heritage.

We deserve to be represented. Our culture deserves to be known. Our children deserve to see themselves in the stories on library shelves.

Public libraries are spaces of belonging, learning, and connection. Excluding Azerbaijani voices from these spaces is not only unjust, it is harmful.

We urge you to take immediate, meaningful action to correct this imbalance and build a library system that truly reflects the rich cultural diversity of Canada.

Sincerely,
Tarana Novrouzova
President, Canadian Azerbaijanis Society of BC.