
In this issue:
- Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
- Lambda Awards
- The Festival of Literary Diversity
- New Magazines in the CELA Collection
- Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Nominees Announced
- New books to promote
- Welcome to Creston Valley Public Library
- Welcome to Chetwynd Public Library
- OLS Certificate
- Library Chat: Accessible programming in small and rural libraries
- Upcoming Library Conferences
- TD Summer Reading Club
- Webinars
- Featured title for adults: On the Ravine
- Top five books
- Featured title for children: Fighting for yes! : The story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann
- Top five for kids
- Top five for teens
- Service tip: Accessing Books in the EasyReader App
- April Holiday Hours
- Stay connected!
Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
As we move towards spring, I’m so excited for all of the new and ongoing work at CELA. Our staff has grown as our services have evolved, and we’re very lucky to have the expertise of so many staff, both long-term and new.
Thanks to many of our partnerships, our collection is now over 1.2 million titles. New titles from Audible.ca are being added to our collection this week. And we have more than 30 new magazines in our collection.
With new technology emerging, we are assessing ways to continue to offer as much choice as possible for our readers, and in the coming months, we will be able to offer even more ways to read accessible books. Our list of member libraries continues to grow and now includes all the libraries in Manitoba. And we’ve been delighted to be welcomed as partners by literary awards, festivals and reading programs that want to ensure that everyone, regardless of how they read, can take part in important national conversations.
One of favourite things to support are reading programs for young readers including the TD Summer Reading Club, the BC and NB summer reading clubs. Offering choices in reading materials for young people is one way to help them develop a lifelong love of reading.
Libraries play such an important role in nurturing that love of reading. To help library staff and volunteers feel comfortable offering accessible reading options, we’ve partnered with the Ontario Library Service (OLS) to offer a new training certificate. Libraries across the country can receive similar training by taking part in our webinars, and we are happy to offer a certificate of completion by request.
If you will be attending the BC Library Conference, stop by our booth for a visit and come out to hear our joint presentation with NNELS on the findings of the Public Library Accessible Resource Centre (PLARC) study “Is Your Library Accessible?”. We’d love to see you!
Happy reading!
Laurie Davidson
Lambda Awards
For over 30 years, the Lambda Literary Awards (or “Lammys”) have maintained a proud tradition of celebrating vibrant, dynamic LGBTQ storytelling.
Today, the Lammys celebrate more than 150 LGBTQ writers across 25 categories, and include several cash prizes for writers at all stages in their careers. The categories include fiction, nonfiction, memoir, poetry and drama as well as categories for young adults, middle schoolers and children.
CELA is pleased to have more than 50 titles in our collection, and more will be added over the coming weeks. We’re also excited for the Canadian authors on the list. We are highlighting just a few here, but check out our full list to find all the nominees in our collection.
- Gay Fiction: The Foghorn Echoes by Danny Ramadan.
- LGBTQ+ Young Adult: The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson.
- LGBTQ+ Middle Grade: Hazel Hill Is Gonna Win This One By Maggie Horne.
The winners of the Lambdas will be announced in June.
The Festival of Literary Diversity
CELA is proud to be associated with the Festival of Literary Diversity. The Festival of Literary Diversity (The FOLD) is Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and storytellers.
The FOLD provides one-of-a-kind events for kids and adults that engage readers, inspire writers, and empower educators by highlighting important and underrepresented voices, including those from the disability community. In response to the pandemic, The FOLD has been offering events both online and in-person. This year The FOLD takes place from April 30 – May 7.
CELA works with The FOLD to offer as many of the books by featured authors in accessible formats as possible.
Learn more about the FOLD and its programming this year.
New Magazines in the CELA Collection
We are delighted to offer new magazines for our readers. These new magazines cover a wide range of interests, from sports to gardening to food and science. You can find the most recent issues of these magazines in our collection now and visit our Magazines page for the complete listing of magazines we offer.
Some magazines we think might be future reader favourites:
- ABC Organic Gardening
- Cooking Light
- Literary Review of Canada
- Macleans
- Science Illustrated
- Sports Illustrated
And for kids and teens:
It’s easy to subscribe to your favourite magazines. New issues are delivered via Direct to Player service. Visit our tutorial: How to subscribe to a magazine.
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Nominees Announced
Congratulations to the five authors nominated for the Writer's Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.
We are pleased to already have four of the titles in our accessible collection for people with print disabilities and the fifth is on its way!
- How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World by Chris Turner
- Sideways: The City Google Couldn't Buy by Josh O'Kane
- Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother by Norma Dunning,
- Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson
- From Left to Right: Saskatchewan’s Political and Economic Transformation by Dale Eisler (coming soon)
New books to promote
Each month we gather some new and notable books which libraries may wish to promote. You can find the printable list on the Libraries page in the section named Accessible books for your library.
This month's selections include The story of us by Catherine Hernandez, Someone else’s shoes by JoJo Moyes and The devil's ransom by Brad Taylor among others.
Welcome to Creston Valley Public Library
CELA has recently welcomed Creston Valley Public Library as one of our member libraries. We had the chance to speak with Cassandra Viers, the Accessible Services Coordinator, to find out more about this library and how the addition of CELA services is helping Creston Valley Library meet the needs of the community it serves.
CELA: Tell us a bit about your library and your community.
Cassandra: Creston Valley Public Library serves a population of just over 13,000 people within the beautiful Town of Creston and Regional District of Central Kootenay.
CELA: We were delighted to see a recent update on your library’s Facebook page featuring CELA resources. How are things going with the process of adding CELA to your library’s accessibility services?
Cassandra: It’s going well! Our current outreach patrons, who have deteriorating abilities to read traditional print books and had been transitioning to regular audiobooks, were thrilled with the increased availability and ease of use. These people are our largest patron base for CELA services. They are so happy that they can continue to ‘read’ even though they can’t manage print books anymore. And patrons who move here from other areas served by a CELA member library are pleased to have the choice and service they have been accustomed to.
CELA: What would you want your patrons/users to know about your accessibility services and the benefits CELA adds to those services?
Cassandra: We’re here to help! Our patrons can get CELA materials through the library, or call CELA to set up automatic delivery services. Family members or friends can act as a designate with CELA to help people get the books they want in the format they need.
CELA: We often hear from libraries that they are interested to learn what other libraries are doing. Can you tell us about what you are doing or planning to do to promote CELA services to your users and in your community?
Cassandra: We’ve been pretty proactive with our initial outreach using CELA materials. We reached out to every local care home and assisted living facility, every school, our local media, local doctors, clinics and the hospital, and Public Health.
But we’re also really new at this and so we’d love to connect with other libraries about what has worked, what hasn’t and how to help patron know that we have much more than just print materials.
Thanks, Cassandra, for sharing Creston Valley’s experiences. If other libraries would like to reach out you can find Cassandra’s contact information on the Creston Valley library’s website. Read more of this interview on our blog.
Welcome to Chetwynd Public Library
CELA recently welcomed Chetwynd Public Library as a new member library. Chetwynd is located in the foothills of the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, and the library serves a population of about 3,100.
The library is located next to the recreation centre, high school and one of the local elementary schools, which keeps the library bustling at all times of the day, filled with laughter and conversation, and acts as a safe place for all.
The library is known as the hub of the community, and has many community partnerships to be proud of. They host a wide variety of programs dedicated to all ages, from birth to the golden years, with a focus on all types of literacy.
Assistant Director Kayla MacDonald is pleased to now be able to offer CELA services. “The Chetwynd Public Library is excited to offer CELA services in our community. Our goal as a library is to service our community members, throughout the ages, to reduce barriers and fill gaps within our community,” says MacDonald.
OLS Certificate
CELA is delighted to partner with the Ontario Library Services to offer free, enhanced accessibility training for libraries to support Ontarians with print disabilities.
The “CELA Service in Ontario Public Libraries” certificate is open to Ontario library staff and volunteers at all service levels. The program, which is available in English and French, provides a comprehensive overview of CELA’s services in four, one hour-long recordings:
- CELA Orientation
- Educator Access Program
- Accessible Reading Technologies, Devices and Apps
- Accessible Library Services for Kids and Teens
Through the program participants will learn about:
- CELA’s services and collection of over one million items in audio, e-text, and braille formats
- Print disabilities and who qualifies to use CELA’s services
- How to register a patron for a CELA account
- Accessible reading technologies and how to order books on behalf of patrons
- Tips to support patrons with print disabilities including programming tips for kids and teens’ activities.
A certificate will be provided by OLS upon completion of the program. Our goal is to make the process of getting trained both simple and valuable for library staff. "With increasing community interest in accessibility, we are hearing from libraries that learning about accessible reading materials and services is an important part of professional development and excellent customer services,” says Manager of Member Services Rachel Breau.
Read more on our blog or at LearnHQ.
Library Chat: Accessible programming in small and rural libraries
Small and rural libraries champion accessible programming and services but can sometimes face unique challenges. Join this CELA chat session with Ardis Proulx-Chedore, Collection Services Technician at Cochrane Public Library in Northern Ontario, who will describe their inclusive programming and services. Ardis will share how the library showcases their accessible services to encourage more usage and participation, as well as how they overcome obstacles.
Ardis Chedore is a Library Technician from the Treaty 9 area of Cochrane Ontario Canada. She serves on the Ontario Public Library Association Board, CELA Board, JASI advisory committee and many other groups. She is a mother of three teenagers who keep her on her toes.
CELA chat sessions are one hour long and give libraries the opportunity to learn from one another to create accessible and welcoming community spaces. Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences to benefit libraries in the audience.
Register now for this session: Tuesday April 18 - 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Upcoming Library Conferences
Come visit us at the upcoming library conferences and join in on our sessions.
Laurie Davidson is presenting at the BC Library Conference with colleagues from NNELS about the Public Library Accessibility Resource Centre (PLARC) Project, co-led by NNELS and CELA. The presentation will focus on understanding the findings from the “Is Your Public Library Accessible?” Study. And visit the CELA booth in the exhibitor’s hall.
We’d also love to see you at the 2023 Saskatchewan Libraries Conference from May 3-5! Visit our booth and join Faline Bobier and Saskatchewan member library colleagues Patricia Meddins and Amanda D. Lepage, who together will be presenting Libraries Expand Horizons for Patrons and Staff. The session will include a description of accessible formats and the various options for reading technologies offered by CELA to member libraries and their patrons, as well as a discussion of innovative approaches to delivering accessible library services, developed by the Welcoming Initiatives team at Saskatoon Public Library.
TD Summer Reading Club
Ontario libraries can support fun summer reading activities and book choices for kids with disabilities. Library staff can learn about making their TD Summer Reading Club accessible and access book titles in CELA’s collection on the Plan for Accessibility page.
This year, the pre-reader and school-age notebooks have been designed with accessibility in mind so separate accessible notebooks have been discontinued. Audio, accessible text, including in OpenDyslexic font and braille versions of the two notebooks will be available on the TD Summer Reading Club site.
Libraries may also consult accessiblelibraries.ca for a comprehensive resource that covers accessibility in all aspects of library service.
Webinars
Are there topics related to accessibility that you would like to see included in our webinars? We regularly update our content and always appreciate hearing ideas from library staff. Send your suggestions to members@celalibrary.ca.
Orientation webinar
An overview of CELA service, including collections offered, eligibility, how to order DAISY audio books or other alternative format books for your library, patron registration, and promotional ideas.
Frontline staff webinar
This webinar will provide an introduction to CELA services for your colleagues who need to understand the basics about your CELA service so they can direct patrons appropriately.
Wed., Apr. 19 2:00-3:00 EDT
Mon., Jun. 19 3:00-4:00 EDT
Educator Access Program webinar
This webinar will introduce the CELA Educator Access program which allows public libraries to offer educators at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels in their community access to CELA services on behalf of students with print disabilities. This webinar is for both educators and public library staff.
Accessible programming for all!
Small and rural libraries champion accessible programming and services but can face challenges within their smaller communities. Join this CELA chat session with Ardis Proulx-Chedore, Collection Services Technician at Cochrane Public Library in Northern Ontario who will describe their inclusive programming and services. Ardis will share how the library showcases their accessible services to encourage more usage and participation, as well as how they overcome obstacles.
Ardis Chedore is a Library Technician from the Treaty 9 area of Cochrane Ontario Canada. She serves on the Ontario Public Library Association Board, CELA Board, JASI advisory committee and many other groups. She is a mother of three teenagers who keep her on her toes.
CELA chat sessions are one hour long and give libraries the opportunity to learn from one another to create accessible and welcoming community spaces. Participants are encouraged to share their own experiences to benefit libraries in the audience.
To register for this session select the link below:
Tuesday April 18 - 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Featured title for adults: On the Ravine
From the bestselling, Giller Prize-winning author of Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures comes an exquisitely crafted novel, piercing in its urgency and breathtaking in its intimacy, about the devastating experience of addiction. In his downtown Toronto condo, Dr. Chen awakens to the sound of streetcars below, but it is not the early morning traffic that keeps him from sleep. News banners run across his phone: Fentanyl Crisis; Toxic Drug Supply; Record Number of Deaths. From behind the headlines, on the same screen, glow the faces of his patients, the faces of the what-ifs: What if he had done more, or less? Or something different? Would they still be alive?
Claire is a violinist; she feels at one with her music, taking flight in its melody, free in its movement. But now she rises and falls with the opioids in her system, becoming increasingly reckless. After two overdoses in twenty-four hours, she sits in the blue light of her computer, searching a notice board for recommendations: my doctor saved my life; my doctor is just another dealer. And then another message catches her attention, about Chen’s clinic: be a guinea pig—why not get paid to take it? When Claire’s life intersects with Chen’s, the doctor is drawn ever more deeply into the complexities of the doctor-patient relationship, the implication and meaning of his intention to treat. Chen must confront just how far he would go to save a life. Combining the depth of his experience as a physician with the brilliance of his literary talent, Vincent Lam creates a world electric in its precision, radiant in its detail. On the Ravine is a gripping novel of profound emotional force, a soaring achievement from a singular voice in Canadian fiction.
Read On the Ravine by Vincent Lam.
Top five books
Most popular with our readers this month:
- Spare by The Duke of Sussex Prince Harry Journals and memoirs
- The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes Suspense and thrillers
- The Boys from Biloxi: A legal thriller by John Grisham Suspense and thrillers
- A World of Curiosities (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #18) by Louise Penny Mysteries and crime stories
- Every Summer After by Carley Fortune Contemporary romance
Featured title for children: Fighting for yes! : The story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann
From a very young age, Judy Heumann heard the word NO. When she wanted to attend public school, the principal said NO. When she wanted her teaching license, the New York Board of Education said NO. Judy and people with disabilities everywhere were tired of hearing "NO."
In the 1970s, an important disability rights law, Section 504 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, was waiting to be signed. Judy and other disability-rights activists fought for "YES!" They held a sit-in until Section 504 was signed into law. Section 504 laid the foundation for the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was established thanks in large part to the ongoing work of Judy and her community. Along with a personal reflection from Judy herself, this biography captures the impact and influence of one of America's greatest living activists.
Read Fighting for yes! : The story of disability rights activist Judith Heumann.
Top five for kids
Most popular with kids this month:
- Bear in the Family (Orca Echoes) by Eric Walters
- See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
- Matilda by Roald Dahl
- The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
- Secret of the Water Dragon (Dragon Masters #3) by Tracey West
Top five for teens
Most popular with teens this month:
- Orchid Beach: a novel (Holly Barker #Bk. 1) by Stuart Woods
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry
- Hunting by Stars: A Marrow Thieves Novel by Cherie Dimaline
- Scythe (Arc of Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman
Service tip: Accessing Books in the EasyReader App
In the EasyReader application, books should be managed from the CELA Direct to Player bookshelf. To access the Direct to Player bookshelf in the EasyReader app:
- Go to Manage Libraries in the Side menu and select CELA Library.
- Select Direct to Player bookshelf.
From here, you will be able to view the books you have borrowed, download or stream them, and return them when you have finished with them.
For more detailed information on Dolphin EasyReader, check out our Quick User’s Guide to EasyReader and our webinar on Accessing CELA Library Using VoiceOver with the Free Dolphin EasyReader App.
April Holiday Hours
CELA and our Contact Centre will be closed Friday April 7, and Monday April 10 for the Easter weekend. We will resume regular hours on Tuesday, April 11.
Stay connected!
Visit CELA's social media, including Twitter, Facebook and our blog, for more news about what's happening in the world of accessible literature.