Don't you need customs forms for books?

PBS is not open to Canadanian members. It's only in the US. 

I do another book trading swap and I've sold a few on line-from those communities I could pick up that the Canadian postal system is not good. 

And you have to be careful in some instances about what books you send. Canada does not allow all books into their country. The site may be concerned about books here getting stuck in customs there. I think it's one of the reasons the Kindle wasn't sold in Canada.

Censorship in Canada

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/censorship_in_canada/censor08.asp

Once you have had one book stopped, expect to have lots and lots of books stopped.

Postage between the US and Canada isn't too bad.  Postage within Canada is horrible though, costs more than mailing something to the US.

Plus, no media mail to Canada and it would require a customs form.  Not everyone can get to the PO to do that.

thanks for the replies.  I didn't know PBS was just for the US.   Our postage rates are higher than US rates.

Nancy V.

And you have to be careful in some instances about what books you send. Canada does not allow all books into their country. 

As a "Canadian American" I have to say that the chances of this happening are about as remote as getting a book censored in the US. "We" don't censor books any more than the US does.

I think that's a bit of an alarmist take on on what the truth really is.

I have been swapping all sorts of  books back and forth with my family for 30 plus years with NO problems. Ever. 

ETA: To say the Kindle isn't available in Canada due to censorship isn't true either - even to suggest it is kind ludicrous. It has to do with many things (copyright laws being one) but censorship laws in Canada aren't one of them.

To the OP: Most book swapping sites are open to Canadians. This is one of the exceptions I've found so you'll be able to swap books, just not on this site.

Susan, I'm not sure that statement about Canada not censoring books any more than the US does is quite accurate.

http://www.freedomtoread.ca/docs/challenged_books_and_magazines.pdf

Morality Squads? The RCMP raiding author's homes, librarys, stores, etc. to seize 'banned' or 'indecent' manuscripts? Yes, the US has its share of issues with books being challenged, but those tend to be at a local level primarily focused in schools and occcasionally in public library's in one area (as opposed to a national or state-wide book banning), it seems Canada is much more extreme about it in ways. The US only bans books on a national level in extreme cases, such as a nation's national security, or when someone's rights are being violated (such as the recent case with the 'sequel' to The Catcher in the Rye), and not because someone deems them as 'pornographic' or 'hate literature'.

Um Tiffany. I'm Canadian. I'm also American. Been in both places. Have you? Not as a tourist ... have your lived there for an extensive time? Or are you just picking Web sites up, well, off the Web?

That Web site you quote is the exact same one as the person above quoted. Do you know that "we" here have a banned book Web site? If a foreigner  was simply cruising the Web and came across that they would sure get the idea that we ban a lot of books here in the US. We don't.

Do you know how many political and activist Web sites the US generates? Again, Canada generates its fair share as well.

What you're seeing is political activism. Just like what is in the US. Make sure you know what you're reading (and as an American you won't readily understand) before you go around saying ....  *gasp* "Guess what the Canadians do?"

Again, if a foreign person were to simply judge the U.S. by cruising U.S. Web sites, can you imagine what an oppresive country they would think this is?

I really resent people open their mouths about subjects they have no firsthand experience about. Canada is not communist, socialist (outside of socialized medicine) nor is under an oppresive dictatorship where the RCMP raids homes searching contraband books, manuscripts or authors not in favor with the government.

My family still lives there. I'm the only one living here in the U.S. aside from my dad. My family is from both Ontario and Quebec. Quebec is very European ... very liberal. Book banning? Raiding by the Canadian government? Anti-porn? Um nope.

Just like the U.S. states, some provinces will be more liberal than others. I lived for 10 years in Utah. You want to talk about morality squads and oppression? Try living there for awhile when you're used to a much more liberal way of life. It was culture shock moving and living there.

Moral of this?  Don't judge a country by its Web sites and don't make a blanket statement about a country when provincial (or state) laws might also apply.

I used to work shipping textbooks.  We always had problems sending anatomy texts to Canada.  Pictures of inflected eyes were some how classified as porn and were not let out of customs.  We had the right forms and small enough boxes.  Jumped though all the loops.  And could not get the medical textbooks to students. 

Also helped out at a non profit lesbian bookstore.  They would not even accept orders going to Canada because customs was so flakey. Would let in hard core erotica.  Then would stop something so sqeaky clean that it was shocking. 

I am not saying that the Canadian government is into censorship.  I'm saying that the customs does not have a clear guideline of what to allow in.  And it can be a nightmare to get books through.

We are about 2 hours south of the Canadian border. A very high percentage of our customers are Canadians on bus tours of our outlet mall. They buy a LOT of books and none of them has ever mentioned that they would have difficulty getting those books through customs on their way back home.

I'm betting there is more that meets the eye (no pun intended lol)  than someone thinking an "inflected" eye is pornographic. That's a bit ludicrous to stand on its own. There is more to that story.

Where were these "textbooks" going? To a school?

For starters, unless it's Canadian-material or Canadian-driven data it's highly unlikely it would be used in a Canadian University. American books in Canadian schools are oh-so-not the norm. Not in any way shape or form. They don't even teach the same way up there, let alone even follow a similar curriculum. Math is even different. So chances are that textbook you were sending was Canadian driven material (meaning done in Canada and sent to the U.S. for printing). There is usually a Canadian version of an American printing house or publisher, like HM.

It happens that things don't make it through border crossings for various reasons but an "inflected" eye is rather suspect (I'm guessing it didn't meet quality control).

And it's not even unique to outlaw things from state to state here. Do you know it's illegal to bring liquor into Utah? It is. Same with pornography.

But to say that Canada's censorship laws stop personal reading books from flowing over the border (most book sites send into Canada on a regular, unrestricted basis ... I ought to know)  and stops Kindle from being allowed in Canada is taking ignorance a bit too far.

Another thing I want to add ... bulk shipping textbooks (or anything)  from a business to a business is vastly different than what is being talked about here. So many other things come into play, such as what I mentioned before, quality control. There is the wrong shipment, wrong anything ... if it's going to a classroom or a place of business anyone is going to be picky. Same if coming to here.

Susan,

I feel I owe you an apology. After going back and reading my previous post with a little time having elapsed, I think it does have a vastly different tone than what I ever intended it to have. I didn't mean it to come of the way it does, and if I wasn't having the issues I do right now I'm sure I would have been able to do a lot better expressing what I was actually trying to say in the way I intended. I'm currently dealing with major depression and anger issues stemming from our house burning down and losing everything I had, and people trying to cheat us and take advantage of us in the aftermath, plus all the whispering going on behind our backs that someone told us about. So, as much as I try for it not to, I'm afraid my mood does sometimes slip into my writing here. For that, I'm sorry. Please ignore my previous message, since I'm far too tired to go back and edit it to say what I really intended at the time in the tone I intended. It's been a really bad week, and a horrible day.

In any case, since you asked, no I haven't actually lived in Canada, but I have stayed there for semi-extended periods several times and loved it. And yes, the provinces are vastly different from each other in a lot of ways. I didn't have to stay there long at all before figuring that out. Heck, I'm from Alaska. Most of the time, people here feel more of a kinship with Canada than with the rest of the U.S., due to the similar climates, being neighbors, and sparse populations, as well as the fact that the rest of the U.S. tends to routinely forget we exist (not the government so much as the businesses and people, which is a bit annoying, and makes us less than thrilled). So, please don't think for one second that I hold any type of negative feelings towards Canada.

As for Utah...my oldest brother is actually living there right now for his job. Plus, he'll be there for at least another year and a half minimum before he can leave. He's originally from Wisconsin, so I'm sure you can imagine what a 'fun' time he's having. And, he's definitely the 'go to the bar until 3 AM on weekends then pass out drunk' type, so it's even harder for him.

I would think that most  custom's review is related to tax/import laws as it is in the US.  yes they are looking for any illegal substances/imports, but they are also trying to make sure that the correct taxes are being paid.  I am not familiar with the import laws of the country I live in let alone countries that I don't live in.  My guess would be that customs is mostly concerned with tax/import laws (&preventing illegal immigration), not censorship.