We are pleased to share that the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) has signed the Statement on Digital Rights for Protecting Memory Institutions Online, joining a growing international coalition of libraries, archives, museums, and advocacy organizations committed to protecting the digital future of our shared cultural heritage.
The Statement articulates four foundational digital rights that memory institutions must be able to exercise online, just as they have always done offline: the right to collect materials in digital form; to preserve digital materials over the long term; to provide controlled access to those materials; and to cooperate with other memory institutions through sharing and transfer of digital collections.
Why COPPUL’s Endorsement Matters
COPPUL’s decision to sign the Statement is a meaningful moment for Canadian academic libraries and for the broader memory institution community. In endorsing the Statement, COPPUL’s Board of Directors offered the following:
“Together, COPPUL members represent significant collections and collective expertise in digitization, digital preservation and community relationships. Through its programs, COPPUL champions immediate and enduring access to knowledge by supporting its members to realize long-term print and digital preservation goals, taking principled and sustainable approaches to digital content licensing, and reducing barriers to access through resource sharing. COPPUL also upholds the need for respectful and culturally appropriate care for Indigenous and diverse knowledges.
Recognizing that it is essential that our shared cultural memory remains a public good accessible through libraries, museums, and archives, the COPPUL Board of Directors has endorsed the Statement on Four Digital Rights for Memory Institutions Online. The statement reflects our collective efforts toward gathering, illuminating, sharing and caring for the vast array of cultural materials representing and informing our past, present and future. In addition, COPPUL affirms the sovereignty and control of Indigenous peoples over their communities’ cultural property.”
This statement is notable not only for its affirmation of core digital rights principles, but also for its explicit recognition of Indigenous data sovereignty—a commitment that reflects COPPUL’s ongoing work to ensure that digitization and preservation efforts are conducted with care, respect, and accountability to Indigenous communities.
A Growing Global Coalition
Signatories now span multiple continents and include major international bodies such as the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), the International Council on Archives (ICA), the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Creative Commons, and the Wikimedia Foundation, among many others. COPPUL joins this coalition alongside fellow Canadian signatory Internet Archive Canada, strengthening the Canadian voice in this global conversation.
How to Get Involved
If your institution is not yet a signatory, we encourage you to learn more and consider adding your name at ourfuturememory.org. The digital rights of memory institutions—and the communities they serve—depend on collective action.
Our future memory is a shared responsibility. COPPUL’s endorsement is a call to the broader library and archives community to stand together in affirming that cultural heritage belongs to everyone, online and off.