In this issue:
- Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
- Awards update!
- Lambda Awards and Pride Month
- On our blog
- Books to promote at your library
- Plan an Accessible Summer Reading Club: New poster!
- TD Accessibility Award Winner Announced
- Webinars
- Accessibility Session at APLA
- Featured title for adults: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
- Top five books
- Featured title for kids: Kid Olympians: Summer
- Top five for kids
- Top five for teens
- New videos for you!
- Service Tip: CELA libraries have accounts
- Holiday hours
- Stay connected!
Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
It’s always exciting to see libraries' work in accessibility being honoured and recognized. Earlier this month, Rachel Breau, our Manager of Member Services, had the honour of presenting the TD Summer Reading Club Accessibility Award winner at Saskatchewan Libraries Conference. The winning library, the Cambridge Public Library, put forth an incredible effort to make their summer reading club accessible to all the kids in their community and their inspiring creativity and efforts deserve recognition and applause.
If you would like to learn more about the TD Summer Reading Club Accessibility Award and how you could win $2000 to put towards accessible programming, visit our website and begin documenting your own creative efforts. Submissions open in the early fall.
As summer reading clubs kick off across the country in June, we are thrilled to partner with the TD Summer Reading Club, the BC Summer Reading Club and the New Brunswick Summer Reading Club to offer accessible versions of their featured books so that all kids can participate. Find the lists for these summer reading clubs on our website.
While we are celebrating reading, we are also mourning the passing of one of Canada’s literary giants. Alice Munro passed away this month after a long and illustrious career which included winning major awards and connecting with readers over the small details and larger struggles of her largely female characters. If you would like to explore her work, we have a number in our collection. Consider adding one of her collections to your own summer reading list. For more reading suggestions, visit our recommended reading pages or see our downloadable list of new books to promote to your users!
Happy Reading!
Laurie Davidson, Executive Director
Awards update!
Congratulations to V. V. Ganeshananthan who won the 2024 Carol Shields Prize for her novel Brotherless Night which follows a courageous young woman as she tries to protect her dream of becoming a doctor as civil war devastates Sri Lanka. As the winner, V. V. Ganeshananthan receives $150,000 USD and a residency with Fogo Island Inn.
The shortlist for the 2024 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour has been unveiled.
This year's nominated authors include:
- Ali Bryan for Coq
- Patrick DeWitt for The Librarianist
- Deborah Willis for Girlfriend on Mars
The winner will be announced on Saturday, June 22, 2024.
The Indigenous Voices Awards have released their nominated titles which include:
- There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born-Again Crow by Caleigh Crow
- And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott in audio and braille
- Truth Telling by Michelle Good
- The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki, illustrated by Carrielynn Victor
- Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls
by Angela Sterritt.
For more information about literary awards visit our Awards page.
Lambda Awards and Pride Month
The Lambda Awards have announced their finalists in more than 20 categories.
For more than 30 years, Lambda Literary has worked to nurture and advocate for LGBTQ writers, and to promote the authors and artists who are telling the stories of the LGBTQ communities.
The finalists for these awards are an excellent place to start when you are looking for titles that celebrate Pride Month.
The winners of the Lambda Awards will be announced on June 11. Find accessible versions of the finalists available in our collection:
On our blog
How have things changed in the ten years since CELA was established?
Check out our latest blog to learn how our collection has developed over the last decade.
Books to promote at your library
Are you looking to promote some new accessible titles in your newsletters, social media feeds, or as part of an in-branch display?
Download our printable book list or forward the link to your colleagues.
Find the new list, updated monthly and featuring links to new books in our collection, on our For Libraries page.
Plan an Accessible Summer Reading Club: New poster!
We are pleased to introduce a new poster promoting CELA’s services for children.
This poster is aimed at parents and caregivers who might not be aware of CELA’s collection of reading materials for kids and teens.
We encourage you to print out a copy and post it in your children’s department, as well as any other resource display area. You can also add it to your summer reading club promotions and book displays to support participants with print disabilities.
The poster is available in PDF format on CELA’s website. There are 8.5”x11” and 11”x17” versions, in both English and French.
TD Accessibility Award Winner Announced
Congratulations to the Cambridge Public Library, presently operating as Idea Exchange for winning the 2023 TD Accessibility Award. The award recognizes a library's outstanding work in creating an accessible summer reading program.
The Idea Exchange's commitment to accessibility is a crucial aspect of their service. "We're driven by compassion for all our members' accessible service, especially for those dealing with sensory issues, and that was the inspiration for much of our summer reading club programming in 2023," says Andrea Siemens, Manager, Youth Services.
The Idea Exchange's submission included information on a multi-sensory room pilot project at Clemens Mill, inclusive programming, and a summer reading club mobile.
The prize for the award includes $2000, which can be put towards accessible programming resources within the library.
"As the awareness around the need for accessibility and equity grows, we are thrilled to see libraries meet challenges with creativity and compassion. We're delighted, not only with the submission from the Idea Exchange, but from all libraries which took the time to document their efforts and share them with us. We can't wait to see what libraries come up with this summer," says Rachel Breau, CELA's Manager of Member Services.
To learn more about the award visit our website. Details about the 2024 Accessibility Award will be available soon.
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.
CELA member libraries chat: What you need to know about CELA
Are you new to offering CELA’s alternate format collections and services at your library or just looking for a refresher? This chat session for CELA member library staff can help answer some of your questions.
Please join Janette Hellmuth from Sechelt Public Library in British Columbia and Janice Finkle from Kingston-Frontenac Public Library in Ontario, who will share their ideas and best practices on providing CELA service in their communities. In particular, they will cover:
- processes including registering patrons, loaning players, ordering books and more
- how to introduce the service to new users
- FAQs from patrons about CELA and accessible library service
After a brief introduction from Janette and Janice, the session will open up for questions and contributions from participants. This is a good opportunity to hear how other libraries include access to CELA’s services into their own branches and systems.
To register for this one-hour session select the link below:
Tuesday June 11 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Accessibility Session at APLA
If you are attending Atlantic Provinces Library Association Conference in June, come to our session to learn what’s next in accessible reading technologies!
On June 6th, Ioana Gandrabur, CELA Peer Trainer, and Rachel Breau, Manager, CELA Member Services, will be sharing the many ways readers with print disabilities can now read accessible books and materials in various non-print formats.
Using live demonstrations, attendees can see how the Envoy Connect audiobook player and EasyReader app work, and learn more about how the Alexa smart speaker and other mainstream technologies can play books from CELA, the Centre for Equitable Library Access.
Featured title for adults: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush-part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.
Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.
Production note: This title was created through eBOUND's Literary Image Description project. The author and illustrator wrote or consulted on the image descriptions, which are included in the body and narration of the text.
Read Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton.
Top five books
Most popular with our readers this month:
- The Fury by Alex Michaelides, Suspense and thrillers
- Terry & Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope by Bill Vigars, Sports and games
- The Bittlemores by Jann Arden, General fiction
- A Great Country: A Novel by Shilpi Somaya Gowda, Multi-cultural fiction
- Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Biography
Featured title for kids: Kid Olympians: Summer
Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as:
- Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games;
- Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose!
- Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school's track team.
Featuring kid-friendly text, this book will inspire you to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before! The diverse and inspiring group also includes Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.
Top five for kids
Most popular with kids this month:
- Broken Pieces: An Orphan of the Halifax Explosion by Allison Lawlor, Death and bereavement
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Fantasy
- Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava series #1) by Roshani Chokshi, Adventure stories
- The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Award-winning fiction
- A Dog-Friendly Town by Josephine Cameron, Animal stories
Top five for teens
Most popular with teens this month:
- Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas, Adventure stories
- A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, Bestsellers (fiction)
- One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus, Mysteries and crime stories
- Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Song of the Last Kingdom #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao, Multi-cultural fiction
- The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the first part of Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings #1) by J. R. R. Tolkien, Fantasy
New videos for you!
We have recently added some new videos to our YouTube channel including:
- CELA at your fingertips: All about CELA's braille collection
- Deliver students with dyslexia accessible reading experiences
- CELA Workshop for Libraries: Registering library patrons with print disabilities
If you have missed recent webinars or just want to learn more about CELA services, our recordings on YouTube are a great place to start!
We also have a series of short videos, perfect for introducing new staff to CELA, or for use in your marketing, promotions or social media!
Service Tip: CELA libraries have accounts
Please share with your library staff that your library has a CELA account, which you can use to register patrons, order books, view statistics and use to demonstrate or practice how to use our services.
Holiday hours
CELA and its Contact Centre will be closed on Monday, July 1 for Canada Day. We will resume usual hours on Tuesday, July 2.
Enjoy your holiday!
Stay connected!
Visit CELA's social media, including X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, YouTube and our blog, for more news about what's happening in the world of accessible literature.