In this issue
- CELA’s New Website
- CELA in the News
- Canada Reads
- Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction
- Forest of Reading
- Service Tip
- Stay Connected!
CELA’s New Website
In the spring of 2019 we will be launching a new website platform designed to make it easier and faster to find and access our entire collection. We are partnering with Bookshare, combining our collections into a single, mobile responsive, streamlined website so patrons can easily access more than 650,000 titles in a variety of formats.
Our new platform offers:
- A clean, simplified website that is easy to navigate
- A mobile-responsive interface to make downloading books directly to accessible reading apps faster and easier
- Consolidated search records to simplify finding the books you want in the formats you need
- A single, streamlined registration process for both CELA and Bookshare
- Enhanced privacy and improved protection for copyright laws
While our website is changing, our commitment to provide our patrons with a comprehensive collection of accessible reading materials, and excellent customer service remains the same. Services such as home delivery, single use braille, auto selection of titles, and direct downloads continue unchanged. Our growing collection, plus new books from Bookshare will continue to be available in the formats of your choice. And we are committed to ensuring your privacy, while also enhancing protections for the materials we produce thanks to a provision in the Canadian copyright laws.
As we prepare for the launch, elements of our existing website and service will unavailable as we migrate them to the new website. We will stop checkouts, including Direct to Player, as of February 25th until we launch the new website the week of March 4th. CELALibrary.ca will also be unavailable from Feb 25 to March 5. We encourage all patrons who access materials digitally to plan ahead and download enough reading materials to sustain them while the CELA website is unavailable. Newspapers and magazines will not be available during this time.
We understand how important your library service is to you and we apologize for this inconvenience. We will do our best to minimize its effects on our patrons. We do encourage you to reach out to your local libraries to see what materials they may have for you.
Over the coming weeks you will see more information about our new website via email, social media and our newsletters. When we launch, we will provide support, training opportunities and our Contact Centre will be available to help with any questions you have. We are looking forward to introducing you to our new website, coming March 2019.
CELA in the News
Canadian author Emily Urquhart recently wrote a love letter to audio books, both ones that sustain and challenge her, and ones from CELA which feed her young daughter’s voracious appetite for new stories.
Canada Reads
The short list for Canada Reads, CBC’s annual Battle of the Books, and the celebrities defending them were revealed January 31. Again this year CELA is pleased to have partnered with Canada Reads to ensure that accessible versions of all of the short listed titles are available.
The theme for this year’s list is One Book To Move You and the long list is an excellent mix of Canadian fiction and non-fiction, and of topics as diverse as history, immigration, time travel, the indigenous experience and of course, hockey.
For more information about Canada Reads and the featured titles please visit the Canada Reads website.
Canada Reads Short List in accessible formats.
The Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction
Each year the RBC Taylor Prize commemorates excellence in the field of Canadian literary non-fiction. This year’s winner will be announced on March 4, 2019 and will receive a prize of $25,000. CELA is pleased to provide accessible versions of the shortlisted titles in advance. This year’s short list includes a collection of thought provoking titles.
- Just Let Me Look at You: On Fatherhood by Bill Gaston
- Jan in 35 Pieces: A Memoir in Music by Ian Hampton
- Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road by Kate Harris
- All Things Consoled: A Daughter’s Memoir by Elizabeth Hay
- Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age by Darrel J. McLeod
Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction titles.
Kids and Teens: 2019 Forest of Reading
The Forest of Reading registration is now open and the nominees have been announced! CELA provides accessible versions of at least half of all the titles in all of the Children’s and Young Adult categories so that students with print disabilities are able to participate in the program.
Check out our Kids and Teens page for the reading lists.
More information about Forest of Reading.
Service Tip
Remember to record your CELA account number and log in information in a safe and accessible and safe manner. Login information will remain the same when we launch our new website but you will need to enter it in order to access the new website. If you need assistance, please call our Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273 or email help@celalibrary.ca.
Stay Connected!
Visit CELA's social media, including Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest for more news about what's happening in the world of accessible literature.
