I would like to set the record straight: The Lest We Forget project is not being cut (Saving Living History - editorial, March 8). On the contrary, it is being expanded through partnerships and published online to facilitate access.
Currently, four out of five of the students who use Lest We Forget do so by receiving photocopies of military records sent from Library and Archives Canada to their schools. This practice continues, as does on-site access to these records at our offices in downtown Ottawa.
On April 9 - Vimy Ridge Day - Library and Archives Canada is launching a representative sampling of 200 digitized military service records on its website. These digitized files will allow teachers to conduct Lest We Forget activities across Canada and, in fact, around the world.
Over the past six months, Library and Archives Canada has been looking at partnerships to enhance the delivery of this and other programs. The objective would be to offer a Lest We Forget workshop anywhere in Canada with the help of veterans, local libraries, remembrance volunteers or any qualified facilitator. The goal is to maximize the number of Canadian students who will discover, first-hand, the individual stories that these soldiers' files have to tell. This approach frees up our resources for other parts of the collection.
Librarian and Archivist of Canada