In this issue
- Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
- Awards update
- Braille update
- Celebrating 10 years of the Marrakesh Treaty
- Welcome to CELA's new Board Member
- Reading in the News
- Truth and Reconciliation titles
- Endorsing Braille Literacy
- Join the CCB for their author's series!
- Have your say!
- Save the date! The Accessible Reading Symposium
- Webinars for you
- Featured title for adults: The Atlas Keeper
- Top five books
- Top five for kids
- Featured title for teens: The Saw Mouth
- Top five for teens
- Service tip: E-text options
- Holiday hours
- Stay connected!
Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
There are many things to celebrate in September. It is awards season which means all around us people are talking about books. In addition to some big international prizes, major Canadian literary awards are announcing their shortlists in the coming weeks. Each year we work with these organizations to make accessible versions of nominated titles available when they are announced. Check out our story below, or visit our Awards page to see which books are being honoured this year.
The work CELA does requires a dedicated team, including our Board of Directors. We are delighted to welcome Rakhshanda Ansari from the North Vancouver City Library to our Board. And we are grateful for the contributions of Tara Thompson, who is leaving the board.
This month we are also celebrating 10 years since the Marrakesh Treaty came into effect. Read our blog to learn more about the ways this historic agreement is changing lives for people with print disabilities.
Have you had a chance to explore our AI voiced magazines? We are looking for feedback from our magazine readers, both about this new AI option and all our magazine offerings. Please take a moment to complete our survey. We always appreciate hearing what is working, or not working well, for our users.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. CELA staff across the country will be taking September 30th off to participate in local events or to find their own personal ways to mark this important day. On our blog we have gathered book recommendations about the experiences of Indigenous, Inuit and Métis people and communities who have been and continue to be impacted by the history of residential schools. These are important stories and we are honoured to play a small role in making them available.
Laurie Davidson, Executive Director
Awards update
It's Canada's literary awards season, which means there are lots of books to talk about.
The Giller Prize has announced its longlist.
The First Nations Community Reads committee has announced their shortlist. The featured titles will be revealed in early October.
The Writer's Trust Awards have announced their shortlists.
- The Atwood Gibson Prize recognizes writers of exceptional talent for the best novel or short story collection of the year.
- The Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction recognizes excellence in the category of literary nonfiction, which includes essays, history, biography, memoir, commentary, and criticism.
- The Balsillie Prize for Public Policy is awarded annually for a book of nonfiction that advances and influences policy debates on a wide range of social, political, economic, or cultural topics relevant to Canadians.
The Forest of Reading program for adults, Evergreen, will announce its winners in the third week in October.
Congratulations to the winners of the Manitoba Book Awards, including
- Scientific Marvel: Poems by Chimwemwe Undi and
- Cale Plett who won for the YA novel Wavelength available in audio and braille
The Alberta Book Awards also announced their winners, which include:
- How to Breathe Water by Sharon Butala
- Graveyard shift at the lemonade stand by Tim Bowling
- Cruising the Downtown: Celebrating Edmonton's Queer History by The Edmonton Queer History Project
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has announced the finalists for their six major awards celebrating Canadian books for young people. The awards include the Amy Mathers Teen Book Award, the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the David Booth Children’s and Youth Poetry Award, among others. Read titles available in accessible formats in our collection.
Stay up to date on all the award announcements and find accessible versions on our Awards page.
Braille update
CELA has planned a temporary pause for braille production and delivery beginning October 19 while our braille services and the machines which produce our embossed braille are being moved to a new location. We anticipate this process will require approximately 2 to 3 weeks for relocation, reassembly and testing.
During this period, production and distribution of both embossed braille and printbraille will be put on hold. Once the machines are available again, we will resume handling embossed braille requests and mailing printbraille books.
Other formats, including electronic braille and reloading of Envoy Connect devices, will be available during this period.
If braille material is essential for your school or work, please make those requests as soon as possible so that they can be produced and mailed before October 19.
We are also pleased to announce that we have new printbraille bags. The new, updated bags will have the CELA logo. While the look of the bags is changing slightly, the process of using them remains the same. For more information and updates about the status of the braille embossers, please visit our blog.
Celebrating 10 years of the Marrakesh Treaty
It is estimated that less than 10% of published works in developed countries and less than 1% in developing countries are ever made into accessible formats.
The Marrakesh Treaty was established to address this “book famine” for people with print disabilities.
This month we are celebrating 10 years since the Marrakesh Treaty came into force.
Read more about the Treaty and its impact for CELA users on our blog. Or watch the video from WIPO Marrakesh Treaty: A promise of a better life about the history of Marrakesh Treaty and the importance of its adoption.
Welcome to CELA’s new Board Member
At our recent AGM, we welcomed our newest Board member Rakhshanda Ansari.
Rakhshanda is the Seniors and Accessible Services Librarian at the North Vancouver City Library in British Columbia. Her journey at North Vancouver City Library started as a Page back in 2013 and she has been at her current position for 5 years. She is passionate about accessibility, serving seniors and bridging the tech gap.
We want to thank our outgoing Board member Tara Thompson for her commitment and contributions to CELA during her term. We wish her well in her new position.
Reading in the News
The Babysitter's Club turns 40!
NPR in the US recently interviewed Ann M. Martin, author of the Babysitter's Club novels and its various spinoffs. The series has endured for generations because it treats young readers and their concerns with both tenderness and seriousness.
We checked in with our Collections Librarian, Theresa, to ask for her perspective.
"As a kid, I read all of the books in The Babysitters Club. It was the sense of adventure that drew me in when I was younger, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized how much I must have also appreciated the female-centered and friendship-centered stories. They were positive and empowering, but never shied away from tackling tough topics. There’s something especially wonderful about seeing kids today continue to discover the original books, along with new adaptations of the series. It reminds me that the things I loved about The Babysitters Club when I was younger, the friendships and the feeling of being part of something, are things that kids are still looking for today."
Whether you want to revisit the Babysitter's Club out of a sense of nostalgia, or because you want to share them with a young reader, you can find them in our collection.
Truth and Reconciliation titles
If conversations or media coverage of Truth and Reconciliation events have inspired you this month, we have books to help you learn more about what can be done to support Indigenous communities.
North of Nowhere: Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner by Marie Wilson.
Eliza Sunshine, Truth telling: Seven conversations about Indigenous life in Canada and Five Little Indians: A Novel by Michelle Good
52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing by David A.Robertson
The knowing and All our relations: finding the path forward (CBC Massey lectures) by Tanya Talaga
Valley of the birdtail: An Indian reserve, a white town, and the road to reconciliation by Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman
Everyday Reconciliation: A Guide to Action and Change for All of Us by Derek Aronhie:nens Montour and Elin Sandberg Miller.
Who We Are: Four Questions For a Life and a Nation by Murray Sinclair
CELA also has the full set of reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Truth and Reconciliation Reports
Find these recommendations and others on our blog.
Endorsing Braille Literacy
CELA is pleased to endorse the Global Declaration on Braille Literacy in Education, a joint initiative of the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) and the World Blind Union (WBU).
The Declaration calls on “governments, education systems, organisations, and communities to recognise braille literacy as a fundamental human right and an essential component of inclusive education.”
Learn more and add your support.
Join CCB for their author's series!
This fall, The Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) is launching the CCB Author’s Series, a national virtual event that will highlight Canadian authors who are blind or living with vision loss.
This series will bring together readers, writers, and members of the low-vision community for engaging conversations with authors about their work, creative process, and lived experiences.
The CCB Author’s Series will spotlight Canadian authors who are blind or living with low-vision through a series of engaging virtual conversations.
October's sessions include:
- Charles Mossop: Thursday, October 22nd @ Noon ET
- Yvonne Garvey: Tuesday, October 27th @ Noon ET
November's sessions include:
- Lynn Jensen: Thursday, November 5th @ 4pm ET
- Penny Leclair: Monday, November 9th @ Noon ET
- Anne Mok: Wednesday, November 18th @ Noon ET
You can find out more and register to attend these talks at the CCB webinar page.
Have your say!
If you read magazines through CELA, we want to hear your feedback. In particular, we’d love to know what you think of our new AI voiced magazines. By responding to our survey, you will help us determine if our pilot project with these magazines is something we should continue. Five AI voiced magazines are available to try. We’re excited about the quality of the AI voices, which sound remarkably human. AI voiced magazines allow us to offer pleasant sounding narration and is produced quickly, something that is particularly important for magazine readers.
Save the Date! Accessible Reading Symposium
The Accessible Reading Symposium will be happening February 10 – 11, 2027.
The Accessible Reading Symposium is a virtual, two-day, bilingual event designed to help library staff and readers with print disabilities learn about accessible reading in Canada.
The symposium brings together readers, authors, libraries, content providers, publishers, and technology developers/providers to share practical demonstrations, introductory knowledge, and different viewpoints on accessible reading.
Stay tuned for more information to come in future Open Book newsletters.
And if you work in the accessible reading landscape and have a topic you would like to present at the 2027 Symposium, submit a proposal by October 25. Learn more on the Symposium website.
Webinars for you
We host a series of webinars on Zoom to help users access CELA services, to stay up to date on new technologies and to learn more about accessible reading. Most of our webinars are recorded.
On the Webinars for you page, you will find upcoming webinars. On that same page you will find links to other CELA video resources available on our YouTube channel.
Ask Us! Come chat with CELA staff and have your questions answered
This hour long interactive conversation gives CELA users an opportunity to ask questions related to using CELA’s library services. We encourage you to bring your questions and learn from CELA staff, as well as to share experiences with other CELA patrons in the audience. This Q&A aims to support how you access the books, magazines and newspapers in CELA’s multiple format collections for people with print disabilities.
To register for the online Zoom webinar please select the link below and fill in the registration form. To attend by phone, please call the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273.
Getting Started with Accessible Reading Canada: Listen to CELA Audiobooks with Alexa
Join us for a live webinar introducing Accessible Reading Canada, a new way for CELA patrons to enjoy CELA audiobooks using Alexa-enabled smart speakers. This 60-minute session will walk you through how to use voice commands to search, browse, and listen to audiobooks from your CELA Direct to Player Bookshelf using the Accessible Reading Canada Alexa skill.
This webinar will cover:
- What Alexa-enabled smart speakers are and how they work
- How to set up and use the Accessible Reading Canada skill
- How to use voice commands for browsing and reading
- Where to find help guides and additional support
After the presentation, there will be a Q&A session to ask additional questions. This session will be recorded.
To register for the online Zoom webinar please select the link below and fill in the registration form. To attend by phone, please call the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273.
Starting with CELA: finding and getting books and magazines
Have you recently registered for CELA or would you like a refresher on how to find and read books and magazines? Are you helping someone with a print disability manage their CELA service? assists a CELA user with a print disability manage their library service? We’re pleased to share how you can use our 1.5 million titles available to you in this 60-minute webinar. We will cover:
- What CELA offers: books & more!
- What kind of devices can you use to listen to CELA's books and magazines
- Discover how to use CELA's site: log in, search and choose a book
- Find tutorials and videos for more help
To register for the online Zoom webinar please select the link below and fill in the registration form. To attend by phone, please call the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273.
Tuesday Nov 17 7:00-8:00pm EST
Featured title for adults: The Atlas Keeper
Every life follows a path. Elsie has just found the map to hers.
Elsie Campbell's life has stalled. Since her mother's death five years ago, she's lived in her sister's basement in the same small town where she was born. She has no real friends, no romance, and spends her days crunching data for her dad's mapping firm.
And now, as her sister marries, she's about to lose her home. The day after a solar eclipse, Elsie hikes to the lookout where her mother died.
There she finds an atlas filled with maps and astrological charts that have the power to send her to twelve turning points in her life. In visiting the past, Elsie makes surprising discoveries about herself. But she can also visit the future, which leads to unexpected consequences. When the atlas leads her both back to her old boyfriend and toward a new love, Elsie finds herself at a crossroads where she must choose between a familiar and nostalgic road or an uncharted path. Can she really change the course of her life? And should she?
Read The Atlas Keeper: a novel by Gail Anderson-Dargatz in our collection.
Top five books
Most popular with our readers last month:
- The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett, Serious and literary fiction
- The Cure for Drowning by Loghan Paylor, 2SLGBTQ+ Fantasy
- The Things We Never Say: a novel by Elizabeth Strout, Friendship stories
- Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival by Trina Moyles, Canadian authors (non-fiction)
- The Secrets We Hide (North Falls #2) by Karin Slaughter, Women sleuths
Top five for kids
Most popular with kids last month:
- The City of Lost Cats by Tanya Lloyd Kyi, Animal stories
- The Lost Continent (Wings of Fire series #11) by Tui T Sutherland, Fantasy
- Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban, Family stories
- Delusion Road by Don Aker, Canadian fiction
- Grace the Glitter Fairy: The Party Fairies Book 3 by Daisy Meadows, Fables and fairy tales
Featured title for teens: The Saw Mouth
When Cedar was a child, fragmented, tortured souls woke up in the world's most complex machines, destroying them and pushing technology back decades. A fall. The Fall, some said, and they called it Autumn. Ten years later, following a family tragedy, Cedar moves to the nowhere town of Sawblade Lake only to find something hunting them. A long, bent shadow that reeks like rot and has the mouth of a deep crevice.
It's after Cedar, and it's willing to go to any lengths to break them, including preying on Cedar's new queer family. The closer it circles, the more it seems to weave through Cedar's whole life. It might stretch back to their mother's gruesome, inexplicable death, to the murk of their missing family, to the house they grew up in. Back and back and back to the first day of Autumn. Cedar thought they understood how their world had changed, but they're far from dredging the bottom.
Read The Saw Mouth by Cale Plett in our collection.
Top five for teens
Most popular with teens last month:
- Wendy's Ever After by Julie Wright, Adventure stories
- Paint by Jennifer Dance, Indigenous peoples fiction
- Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas, Fantasy
- The White Rose by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Contemporary romance
- A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett, Humourous fiction
Service tip: E-text options
Some of our users with dyslexia or other print disabilities find it helpful to change the font, text size, colour, spacing, and other settings to support their reading. With apps such as Dolphin EasyReader, you can customize e-text to suit your reading needs. Learn more.
Holiday hours
CELA and the Contact Centre will be closed on September 30 to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, as well as Monday, October 12 for Thanksgiving.
Stay connected!
Visit CELA's social media, including Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, YouTube and our blog, for more news about what's happening in the world of accessible literature.