In this issue:
- Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
- Awards updates
- Reading for Truth and Reconciliation
- Audiobook readers needed!
- How Springwater Library supports people with dyslexia
- Deadline extended for TD Summer Reading Club Accessibility Award
- Books to promote at your library
- Update on access to The Globe and Mail
- Workshop: Accessibility and Licensing of Digital Resources
- Webinars
- Featured title for adults: I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine
- Top five books
- Featured title for kids: Birds on the Brain
- Top five for kids
- Top five for teens
- CELA welcomes new board members
- Service Tip: More than audiobooks
- Holiday hours
- Stay connected!
Letter from CELA’s Executive Director
As students head back to their classes this fall, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for students, parents and teachers to find the information they need from us. Our new Back to School page collects all the information educators need to get started with CELA in one easy to find place. In October, we are also celebrating Dyslexia Awareness Month with a preview of what one Ontario library is doing to support people with dyslexia in their community.
Earlier this month, CELA held its Annual General Meeting. It’s a great time to review the year and everything that the board and staff team have accomplished in the last year and look forward to the coming year. This year, we also had the pleasure of welcoming three new board directors, Mary Chevreau, Sarah Gallagher and Vicky Varga, and had the bittersweet task of saying thank you and goodbye to Peter Bailey and Heather Scoular, board directors who are retiring from our board. Learn more about these board directors in this newsletter.
One of the projects discussed at the Annual General Meeting is our Accessiblity Audiobooks project. We're now recruiting readers, both with and without print disabilities, to help us determine best practices for audiobook production. If you, your colleagues or your library patrons are interested, you can learn more on our blog.
I’m always delighted to hear what libraries are doing to make accessibility a priority. I want to encourage libraries who are eligible for the TD Accessibility Award to apply. The deadline for applications has moved to October 2, so there is still time! And I want to invite you to our upcoming Library Chat on October 8. Janette Hellmuth from Sechelt Public Library in BC and Janice Finkle from Kingston-Frontenac Public Library in ON will join us to share their tips and answer questions about how they provide CELA services in their communities.
Like many organizations, people often learn about CELA thanks to comments passed on by friends, acquaintances or colleagues. If you know of someone who could benefit from CELA services, or if you know of an educator who isn’t aware of us, please pass on our information. We want everyone who might need CELA services to know we are looking forward to supporting them.
And lastly, as we pause for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, we want to acknowledge and share our gratitude for the Indigenous, Metis and Innu writers who share their stories so that we can learn and reflect.
Happy Reading,
Laurie Davidson, Executive Director
Awards updates
Fall brings a slew of literary awards, and we are delighted to have so many to share with our users.
The Giller Prize has released its long list, as has the Toronto Book Awards.
The Writer's Trust has released shortlists for both the Atwood Gibson Prize for Fiction and the Hilary Weston Prize for nonfiction.
Congratulations to Canadian writer Anne Michaels who has been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. Michaels is recognized for her novel Held, which weaves together historical figures and events.
Watch our Awards page for updates as more award announcements are made.
Reading for Truth and Reconciliation
Two recently added books would be excellent reads to recommend for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
The Knowing by Tanya Talaga is a riveting exploration of her family's story and a retelling of the history of the country we now call Canada
A Season in Chezgh'un is Darrel J. McLeod's first novel and the follow-up to his memoir Mamaskatch and Peyakow. McLeod sadly passed away earlier this month.
Audiobook readers needed!
CELA has recently begun an Accessible Commercial Audiobooks Research Project, funded by Accessibility Standards Canada, which is designed to help create accessibility guidelines and resources for publishers, audiobook producers and others in the audiobook industry.
We are now recruiting individuals to participate in the user testing phase of the project.
We are seeking a total of 50 participants, 25 who live with a print disability, and 25 who do not. All study participants must live in Canada. Those selected to participate in the study will be asked to read audiobooks and/or excerpts of audiobooks and answer questions about their experiences. Participants will also be asked general questions about audiobooks and to provide demographic information. Providing detailed demographic information will be optional.
To learn more about this project, visit our Audiobook Project page and our recent blog post describing the work we are doing.
How Springwater Library supports people with dyslexia
At Jodie Delgado’s library in Springwater, Ontario, you’ll find lots of great resources for people with dyslexia, especially young people who are learning to read. It offers everything from decodable books to scanning pens and interesting outreach events.
And Jodie’s commitment to providing these resources comes not only from being the CEO of the library, but also because she is a former teacher and the parent of a child with dyslexia. “I understand the struggles of a family dealing with dyslexia. And I want our library to be a place where they can get some help," says Jodie.
Read more about how this small library is making a big difference.
Deadline extended for TD Summer Reading Club Accessibility Award
The deadline for applying for the TD Accessibility Award has been extended to October 2. So don't delay and get your submissions in now!
CELA and the TD Summer Reading Club offer an annual award for excellence in accessible English or French programming.
The award celebrates the creativity of library staff who engage children with disabilities in their TD Summer Reading Club. The prize is $2,000 cash to the winning library. The winner is announced in the spring of the following year at either the English or French award ceremony, depending on the language of the winning application.
You can find more information, including eligibility criteria, on the Accessibility Award page. To apply, complete the Accessibility Award application form. You can also send supplementary information to members@celalibrary.ca. This can include videos, photos, newspaper articles, statistics, testimonials, and more.
The deadline to apply is October 2, 2024. Good luck!
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.
Update on access to The Globe and Mail
Our current newspaper supplier lost access to The Globe and Mail newspaper earlier this month. We know how much our users rely on access to newspapers, particularly The Globe and Mail.
We have been exploring other options to provide an accessible version of this newspaper and we will update our users as soon as we have information to share.
Workshop: Accessibility and Licensing of Digital Resources
BCLA's "Conference Virtual Reboot Series," offers a selection of presentations from the annual BC Library Conference last spring.
On Tuesday, November 12, CELA's Executive Director Laurie Davidson, along with colleagues Daniella Levy-Pinto (Manager, NNELS) and Tami Setala (Licensing and Business Development Manager, BC Libraries Co-op), will explore the various aspects of accessibility as it relates to licensed digital resources including procurement, model license agreements, accessibility testing, staff and user training, and vendor advocacy and awareness.
The workshop takes place on Tuesday, November 12th at 11am-12pm PST (2pm-3pm EST) on Zoom.
Non BCLA members are welcome and equity pricing is available.
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.
CELA chat sessions are an informal space for library staff to connect, ask questions, and share knowledge directly. Sessions are moderated by a CELA staff member. Q&A is not only expected but welcomed.
Please join Janette Hellmuth from Sechelt Public Library in BC 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 regarding 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:
Educator Access Program webinar
This webinar will introduce library staff and educators to the CELA Educator Access program. This program is offered through public libraries and gives teachers and other educators access to CELA’s collection to support their students with print disabilities at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels.
Audience: Public library staff and educators. Educators can include teachers, teacher librarians, educational assistants, and special education teachers – anyone who supports students with print disabilities in a formal educational setting.
Learning goals:
- How to register with the Educator Access program
- What alternate formats and reading technologies are available for students at all levels in the CELA collection
- What is Bookshare and how can educators get access
- How to find, access and read our books, magazines and newspapers in audio, e-text and braille
Length: 60 minutes
Envoy Connect: An accessible and affordable audiobook player
In May 2023, CELA launched our new service which uses the Envoy Connect audiobook player to read books in CELA’s collection. This webinar will provide a basic introduction to the Envoy Connect player, a portable, affordable and easy-to-use device. This webinar is for anyone who prefers listening to audiobooks using self-contained players with a tactile interface, rather than through computers, smart phones or tablets.
This webinar will cover:
- Background and context to explain how and why the Envoy Connect became an option for accessing audio books.
- Basics of the Envoy Connect Player: what it is, how it works, etc.
- How to manage books on the Envoy Connect with the CELA Connect software.
- Where to find learning resources or purchase the player.
Select the link below to register for this webinar:
Thursday Oct 24 1:00-2:00pm EDT
Orientation webinar
This webinar will provide a comprehensive overview of CELA services for library staff who work in, or are responsible for, accessible services.
Audience: Staff who act as the primary CELA contact at your library, as well as other public library staff with an interest in the full services CELA provides to patrons through their public library.
Learning goals:
- What is CELA and why accessible library services are important
- What flexible options are available for libraries: direct registration of patrons with print disabilities; interlibrary loans to libraries, deposit collections of DAISY CDs
- What alternate format materials are available: books and magazines in audio, e-text and braille
- How library staff can connect patrons with CELA
- What support is available from CELA
Length: 60 minutes
Help! How do I support struggling readers?: An introduction to accessible literacy and reading formats
In this webinar, you’ll learn how to support readers with print disabilities, including learning disabilities, vision loss, and physical disabilities. You’ll receive an introduction to different reading formats and the features that make them more accessible. Formats will include ebooks, audiobooks, braille, decodable books, hi-lo books, and graphic novels. Join in to discover a broader approach to reading and literacy development.
- Review of the different types of print disabilities and their unique reading needs.
- Discover various reading formats and their accessibility features.
- Learn how alternate formats contribute to literacy development.
- Learn helpful tips for supporting struggling readers, including those with print disabilities.
To register for this one-hour session select the link below:
All about print disabilities: CELA eligibility workshop for library staff
Have you ever wondered whether someone was eligible to use CELA’s collection of accessible reading formats? Library staff are essential in helping to make sure that people living in Canada of all abilities get access to reading materials in the formats that they need. Equally important is the crucial role they play in ensuring that use of the CELA collection is restricted to those who have a print disability, which is a learning, physical, or visual disability that prevents someone from reading conventional print. Through polls, discussion, and other interactive activities, this workshop will help library staff to better understand eligibility, be confident in explaining it to their patrons and colleagues and increase CELA usage through their library by promoting it to all community members who may be eligible for CELA. Attend this workshop for the opportunity to:
- Understand what a print disability is
- Understand why it is important that only people with print disabilities use CELA’s collection
- Gain confidence in determining eligibility and explaining it to others
- Get ideas on how to promote CELA to eligible patrons
Thursday Nov 21 2:00-3:00pm EST
Featured title for adults: I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine
Neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author of This Is Your Brain on Music Daniel J. Levitin reveals how the deep connections between music and the human brain can be harnessed for healing. Music is perhaps one of humanity’s oldest medicines as well as its most universal: from China to the Ottoman Empire, Europe to Africa and pre-colonial South America, cultures have developed rich traditions for using sound and rhythm to ease suffering, spur healing, and calm the mind.
Despite this history, musical therapy has long been considered the remit of ancient practice and alternative medicine, if not outright quackery and pseudoscience. In the last decade, however, an overwhelming body of scientific evidence has emerged that persuasively argues music can offer profoundly effective treatment for a whole host of ailments, from Alzheimer’s to PTSD, depression, pain, and cognitive injury. It is, in short, one of the most potent and remarkably promising new therapies available today.
A work of dazzling ideas, cutting-edge research, and joyful celebration of the human mind, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord explores the critical role music has played in human evolution, illuminating how the story of the human brain is inseparable from the creative enterprise of music that has bound cultures together throughout history. Music insinuates itself into our earliest memories; it is intimately connected to our emotional regulation and cognition; its shared rhythms and sounds are essential to our social behaviors. As neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin demonstrates in this mind-expanding follow-up to This Is Your Brain on Music—which revolutionized our understanding of the neuroscience of song—medical researchers are now finding that these same deep connections can be harnessed to create profound benefits for those both young and old.
Read I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine by Daniel J. Levitin.
Top five books
Most popular with our readers this month:
- A Gentleman and a Thief: The Daring Jewel Heists of a Jazz Age Rogue by Dean Jobb, True crime
- The Briar Club: A Novel by Kate Quinn, Suspense and thrillers
- Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton, Biography
- The Whispers: A Novel by Ashley Audrain, Suspense and thrillers
- The Book of Elsewhere: A Novel by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville, Fantasy
Featured title for kids: Birds on the Brain
The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city's bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down. Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one - not one single person - has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country.
Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn't this city part of the world? How come people don't seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city's bird count event? Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni's family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count - get them to ask the city government to support the event. A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community.
Read Birds on the Brain by Uma Krishnaswami.
Read the first book in this series: Book Uncle and Me.
Top five for kids
Most popular with kids this month:
- The Complete Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, Fantasy
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, Fantasy
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6) by Jeff Kinney, Family stories
- Dangerous Gift: Wings of Fire Series, Book 14 by Tui T. Sutherland, Adventure stories
- The City of Ember: The First Book of Ember by Jeanne Duprau, Science fiction
Top five for teens
Most popular with teens this month:
- World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, Ghost and horror stories
- The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of Lord of the Rings (The Lord of the Rings #1) by J. R. R. Tolkein, Fantasy
- 1984: A Novel by George Orwell, Classic fiction
- Funeral Song for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline, General fiction
- The Cousins by Karen M. McManus, Mysteries and crime stories
CELA welcomes new board members
CELA’s Board of Directors is made up of dedicated library colleagues from across the country. Their commitment to accessibility and wealth of experience in libraries helps guide CELA’s work. We are excited to welcome Vicky, Sarah and Mary to our board.
Vicky Varga is the Executive Director of Collections, Marketing, and Technology at the Edmonton Public Library where she has worked for over 24 years in a wide variety of roles. She is responsible for the strategic leadership of the technology, research, collections and marketing functions at the library. Vicky’s current professional interests include advocacy for fair ebook and audiobook pricing for public libraries, and developing strategies for expanding awareness of the breadth of library services.
Sarah Gallagher is a librarian working on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, also known as Whitehorse, Yukon. Sarah has been part of the library management team at Yukon Public Libraries Branch since 2014 and has represented the Yukon on several committees over the years, including the CELA Advisory Committee. She is the past president of the Yukon Library Association.
Mary Chevreau is the Executive Director of CULC (Canadian Urban Libraries Council). Mary has over 25 years of leadership experience, with excellent skills in strategic planning, advocacy, governance and policy development. Before her role at CULC, Mary was the Chief Executive Officer of Kitchener Public Libraries, responsible for all aspects of service. She has led large scale projects including establishing new funding strategies for special projects and creating exceptional programming and service in response to community need.
And as we say hello to new board members, we want to thank outgoing Directors Heather Scoular and Peter Bailey, who have both offered insight and guidance over their terms. Peter was one of the founding board Directors of CELA and has helped lead CELA as we have grown and evolved over the past decade. We offer both Heather and Peter our gratitude and wish them well.
Service tip: More than audiobooks
Did you know that the favourite format of CELA patrons is audiobooks?
We love audiobooks too but we also offer so much more!
Check out our Accessible Formats page to learn more about the various ways you can read our books and what technology works with which formats.
Holiday hours
CELA and its Contact Center will be closed on Monday, September 30th to recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
We will also be closed on Monday, October 14 for Thanksgiving and will return to regular hours on Tuesday, October 15.
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.