NFB Library to close -- a huge blow to building a shared history 

The Film and Media Association of Canada (FMSAC) is calling on teachers, students, researchers, programmers, filmmakers, archivists and librarians to sign this letter. The letter is addressed to Suzanne Guèvremont, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada and Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge. 

Dear Suzanne Guèvremont and Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge. 

We are devastated to learn of the NFB's short-sighted decision to close its Library as part of its vision of the future according to the NFB's April 4th press release. Not only is the position of the head librarian of thirty years being terminated but, since the beginning of 2024, over eighty staff members, including an Indigenous director, have been laid off. Thus, among other things, this is a massive blow to the critical initiatives that the NFB is mandated to support for all Canadian and Indigenous communities. It puts an end to the actions outlined in the 2007 NFB Indigenous Action Plan to improve access, cataloging, and indexing practices of Indigenous materials. This work has only just begun. Moreover, the NFB's Indigenous Executive Director left the Board one month ago and is not being replaced. The NFB is failing to fulfil its obligations to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Calls to Action. 

This is the fourth full round of layoffs for the education and outreach sector at the NFB in the past fifteen years. According to the NFB’s ongoing mandate, the organization is required “to produce and distribute and to promote the production and distribution of films designed to interpret Canada to Canadians and to other nations.” Without the important work of the Education and Library departments within the NFB, this mandate cannot be adequately fulfilled. Libraries are the keepers of our memory and are not simply an 'add on' to the main organization. Libraries are the central artery feeding the stories and histories of and for generations of Canadians. Further, audiovisual archives across Canada are not equipped to safeguard the precious and diverse histories of film production. The NFB library has served a central function in the work of history across Canada — nourishing the next generation of dreamers, makers, thinkers, and cultural workers. This closure represents a massive and violent break in the cultural heritage of the country and its knowledge keepers. 

We urgently ask the NFB leaders to reverse their decision to close the Library without public consultation. This will have devastating consequences for Indigenous, BPOC, and many other communities across Canada whose histories will be lost or buried. 

We urgently ask that NFB leadership take the following steps:

1. Reverse the decision to close the Library,
2. Return the library staff to the crucial work of realizing the TRC recommendations and safeguarding cultural memory for future generations.
3. Undertake a public consultation to re-establish its commitment to safeguarding Indigenous and other cultural materials for future generations.

The signatories represent national and international educators, students, filmmakers, programmers, distributors, librarians, archivists and researchers for whom the NFB library and archives are essential elements of learning, creating and communicating the histories of our diverse communities.