Open Book: March 2025

Open book
In this issue

Letter from CELA’s Executive Director

March has been an unusually busy month here at CELA. We have welcomed back The Globe and Mail to our newspaper offerings, and we’ve had excellent feedback from users who are delighted to have access again to this newspaper.

We have also celebrated Canada Reads and its winner A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer. Our team has worked with author Amanda Leduc and her publisher to make Amanda’s third book WILDLIFE available in both commercial and accessible formats. Amanda started this tradition with her first book, and we are grateful for her support and advocacy.

We are wrapping up our Accessible Audiobooks project and turning our attention towards our smart speaker project. We are excited about the opportunities that will come with another way to read audiobooks. Watch upcoming newsletters for more information on that project.

CELA has also recently hired a new Metadata Coordinator who, among many other things, will help us get books into our collection with the correct information so that they are easy to find. Please help us welcome Paul King to that role.

We have also had to send out news about our CD services, which we know will be difficult for some of our users. Recent shifts in technology, the marketplace and in our federal funding have required us to make the decision to cease distribution of CDs for audiobooks and magazines to all CELA users and CELA member libraries effective July 31, 2025. 

We want to assure you that we will do everything we can to support our users and our libraries through this transition. If you haven’t yet, please visit our CD Transition Resources page to read more about our plan. And please plan to come to our Information Session on April 30, at 7 pm EDT or to any of our monthly webinars or upcoming weekly Q&A sessions to learn more about reading options available to you. We are looking forward to supporting you.

Laurie Davidson, Executive Director

Update on CELA services

An older man wears headphones and holds a tablet while sitting in a library.We recently sent out communications to all our users outlining some upcoming changes to CELA’s services. Effective July 31, 2025, CELA will no longer send CDs to our users. While we know this may be difficult for those who rely on CDs, we are committed to supporting our users. Visit our CD Transition Resources page to read our frequently asked questions, find tutorials and quick guides or to register for our training sessions.

As you learn more about this shift, we want to reassure you of some important things.

  1. There are no changes to any other CELA services.
  2. We will continue to add audiobooks and audio magazines to our collection, and they can be read using a variety of devices or technologies.
  3. Our Direct to Player service will continue unchanged.
  4. CD users have lots of time to assess their best options for reading books, and we have plenty of support, including training and our upcoming Q and A sessions, tutorials and more.

To learn more about this shift in CELA’s services please join the CELA team at our upcoming Information Session on April 30, at 7 pm EDT.

Festival of Literary Diversity!

Faces cut from different colours of paper form a collage around an image of the earth.The Festival of Literary Diversity is Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and storytellers. Each year, the FOLD provides one-of-a-kind events for kids and adults that aim to engage readers and inspire writers, while highlighting important, diverse and often underrepresented voices.

The festival includes a variety of virtual and in person panels, discussions, workshops and interactive events. CELA has worked with the FOLD to help bring the festival to our users by offering accessible formats of many of the featured titles.

This year, the festival will return April 27 – May 4. Check out the line up of events on the FOLD website, and then check out the accessible versions in our collection.

Awards update

The 5 Canada Reads debaters with their chosen books.Did you follow along with Canada Reads this year? This year, the winner of the annual reading debate was A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby, with Mary Louisa Plummer.

This incredible biography details Chacaby's life as she overcomes abuse and addiction to become an organizer and elder within her community.

Congratulations also go to Canada's own Michael Crummey whose book The Adversary made it to the Dublin Literary Award final list.

We're also delighted to have recently added Vantage Points: On Media as Trans Memoir by Chase Joynt which was one of the Hilary Weston shortlisted titles. 

Stay up to date on all the Awards news on our Awards page.

The Globe and Mail returns

Logo of the Globe and Mail.CELA is pleased to be able to offer The Globe and Mail newspaper to our users again, effective March 19, 2025. As you may recall, our supplier of accessible newspapers was no longer able to offer the paper in accessible format last year.

We have negotiated direct access to The Globe and Mail through a link with their website.

This will allow CELA users to read articles as they are published, search the website and access the archives and past articles, and enjoy extra features like podcasts and horoscopes. The Globe and Mail can be accessed using a mobile device or desktop computer through our website.

This platform provides access to far more content than our previous supplier, but it is also more complex to navigate. We have tested it and have developed tutorials for different types of assistive technology to help our users learn to use this platform more easily. You will find links to those tutorials and tips on our Newspaper page  and also on our How to read a newspaper page.

We have developed a general tutorial along with ones specifically for screen readers and screen magnifiers.

If you require further assistance, please contact us by email at help@celalibrary.ca or call us at 1-855-655-2273.

Tips for reading The Globe and Mail

A golden retriever with a folded newspaper in his mouth.Our Peer Trainer, Ioana, has been enjoying access to The Globe and Mail since it returned to the CELA newspaper offerings earlier this month. She's written about some of the tricks she's found to make accessing the content easier.

Here's Ioana's tip this month: If you are accessing The Globe and Mail, you might want to consider registering for a free account to bypass the busy web page and get the news you are interested in right in your email inbox. Registering also gives you access to useful additional features, such as listening to articles with high quality text to speech voices.

In our Globe and Mail tutorials, we describe the registration process in detail.

When you create the account, you can select the checkbox if you want to receive Morning Update and Breaking News newsletters. More newsletter options are available when you are logged in with your account.

As you read the newsletters, you can then click on the included links to the newspaper webpage. Note that, for the links to work, you will first have to go to the CELA newspaper list and open The Globe and Mail home page from there. Then you can return to the email and select any link of interest.

You might not need to do this every time. Your browser may remember you, and clicking links from within the emails might work directly.

Thanks, Ioana!

One eRead Canada happens this month!

Cover of the book Valid by Chris Bergeron.Each April, libraries and readers across the country participate in the One eRead Canada program by reading the same book in either English or French.

This year, the chosen book is Valid by Chris Bergeron, which is available through CELA and may also be available through your local library.

Valid is described as a genre-bending speculative look at a dark future, which shares the story of one trans woman leading a revolution. Part autofiction, part dystopic speculation on an all-too-possible future characterized by corporate power, ecological collapse, and political havoc, Valid is an ambitious work that is as much philosophical as it is confessional.

The One eRead website includes discussion questions and, often, events are organized to hear from the author. Check your local library to learn more, or visit the One eRead website.

Reading for Truth and Reconciliation

Cover of the book Killing the Wittigo by Suzanne Methot.Killing the Wittigo: Indigenous culture-based approaches to waking up, taking action, and doing the work of healing: a book for young adults by Suzanne Methot. 

A powerful book that uses plain language to talk about colonial trauma and transformational change. History. Identity. Lateral Violence. Complex Trauma.

Who are we and how are we seen? How do we learn what safety is when we've never experienced it?

Killing the Wittigo talks about the effects of colonization and the healing work being done by young Indigenous people toward individual and systemic change, through song lyrics and first-person accounts of their own journeys of decolonization and healing. Sexual Abuse. Relationships. Kindness and Kinship. Are your relationships harmful or healthy? What do healthy families look like?

Killing the Wittigo shatters the isolation and shame to talk about everything from managing triggers to what young people are asking of their parents and their =LDRship. Abandonment. Dis-Ease. Reconnection. Change. How do you turn distressing feelings into emotions that you can understand? How does making sense of your stories help you gain choice and control?

From market capitalism and food security to community hubs and sustainable development goals, Killing the Wittigo has everything a young person needs to move from surviving to thriving. Killing the Wittigo offers: Reflection questions to anchor/reframe life experiences. Mindfulness activities to help readers center themselves in the present, develop self-awareness, and create new patterns of behaviour. Activities and exercises to support meaning making and change.

Elections Canada accessible resources

Elections Canada logo.With the federal election scheduled for Monday, April 28, it is important that all Canadians have access to the information and tools they need to vote.  

On the Elections Canada website, you will find ways to order accessible formats available for the following information:

Additional information about accessible services offered by Elections Canada can be found in the Electors with Disabilities section on the 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.

How to read CELA audiobooks and magazines: Transitioning from reading on CDs to other devices

Discover the many ways you can read CELA’s audiobooks and magazines using a variety of devices. This webinar is intended to support you as you transition off of CDs onto other players. In this one-hour webinar, you will learn: 

  • Which audiobook players work with CELA audiobooks and magazines 
  • How to start using Envoy Connect devices, the EasyReader app or Direct to Player on your Humanware Stratus DAISY player 
  • Where to buy players 
  • How we can further support you through this transition 

To register for the online Zoom webinar, please select your preferred date below and fill in the registration form. To attend by phone, please call the Contact Centre at 1-855-655-2273. 

Tues April 8: 3:30-4:30pm EDT
Tues May 6: 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Wed June: 11 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Tues July 8: 3:00-4:00pm EDT
Tues Aug 5: 2:00-3:00pm EDT
Wed Sept 17: 2:00-3:00pm EDT

Using Voice Dream Read Aloud for iOS to access CELA's books and magazines

Do you own the Voice Dream Read Aloud app? Are you considering purchasing it to access reading materials from CELA? Join us for this hour-long webinar about how this versatile app lets you read CELA’s books and magazines in audio and e-text formats. This webinar is for new Voice Dream Read Aloud users or those interested in learning new tips. By attending this webinar, you will learn about:

  • General features of Voice Dream Read Aloud
  • Setting up the app for use with CELA
  • Various ways to load CELA content into the app
  • Reading a title and playback options
  • How to find help or contact support for using Voice Dream Read Aloud

To register for this webinar select the link below:

Tues April 22 1:00-2:00pm EDT

Cover of the book All the little monsters by David A. Robertson.With humour, warmth and heartbreaking honesty, award-winning author David A. Robertson explores the struggles and small victories of living with chronic anxiety and depression, and shares his hard-earned wisdom in the hope of making other people's mental health journeys a little less lonely.

From the outside, David A. Robertson looks as if he has it all together-a loving family, a successful career as an author, and a platform to promote Indigenous perspectives, cultures and concerns.

But what we see on the outside rarely reveals what is happening inside. Robertson lives with "little monsters": chronic, debilitating health anxiety and panic attacks accompanied, at times, by depression. During the worst periods, he finds getting out of bed to walk down the hall an insurmountable task. During the better times, he wrestles with the compulsion to scan his body for that sure sign of a dire health crisis.

In All the Little Monsters, Robertson reveals what it's like to live inside his mind and his body and describes the toll his mental health challenges have taken on him and his family, and how he has learned to put one foot in front of the other as well as to get back up when he stumbles. He also writes about the tools that have helped him carry on, including community, therapy, medication and the simple question he asks himself on repeat: what if everything will be okay? In candidly sharing his personal story and showing that he can be well even if he can't be "cured," Robertson hopes to help others on their own mental health journeys.

Read All the Little Monsters by David A. Robertson.

Top five books

Cover of the book Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo.Most popular with our readers last month:

  1. Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo, Mysteries and crime stories
  2. Hidden Depths by Ann Cleeves, Mysteries and crime stories
  3. The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus: A Novel by Emma Knight, General fiction
  4. Jennie's Boy: A Newfoundland Childhood by Wayne Johnston, Journals and memoirs
  5. Dengue Boy: A Novel by Michel Nieva, Humourous fiction

Top five for kids

Cover of the book The Big Splash by Angela Ahn.Most popular with kids last month:

  1. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, War stories
  2. The BFG by Roald Dahl, Fantasy
  3. Taylor Swift: All Access by Scholastic, Music biography
  4. The Big Splash by Angela Ahn, Humourous fiction
  5. Ask A Scientist: Professor Robert Winston Answers More Than 100 Big Questions From Kids Around the World! by Robert Winston, Science and technology

Featured title for young adults: The Dark Becomes Her

Cover of the book The Darkness Becomes Her by Judy I. Lin.Ruby Chen has always played the part of the dutiful eldest daughter: excelling in school; excelling in piano lessons; excelling at keeping her younger sister, Tina, focused on extracurriculars meant to impress college admissions officers. But when a ghost from the spirit world attacks Ruby in the middle of Vancouver's Chinatown neighborhood, her life is plunged into a darkness that no amount of duty can free her from. Overnight, Ruby's sister seems to change.

There are strange noises coming from her bedroom at all hours; and the once sweet, funny Tina has been replaced by something dark and unnatural. As Ruby races to save her sister from demonic possession, she is thrown into an ancient battle over the gateway to the underworld. On one side, a sinister traveling temple known for making dark wishes come true has returned to Chinatown after many years-intent on breaking down the gateway and unleashing the wickedness within. On the other side, the guardians determined to stop this encroaching evil.

And in order to survive, Ruby must not only face the horror taking over her community, but must also confront the horror within herself. Chinese and Taiwanese mythology get the Junji Ito treatment in this bone-chilling, propulsive story that takes the horrors of the Asian diaspora experience to a whole new level.

Read The Dark Becomes Her by Judy I. Lin.

Top five for teens

Cover of the book Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli.Most popular with teens last month:

  1. The Darkness Within Us (The Shadows Between Us #2) by Tricia Levenseller, Romance
  2. Hatchet: Hatchet Series, Book 1 by Gary Paulsen, Adventure stories
  3. Heartless Hunter: The Crimson Moth, Book 1 by Kristen Ciccarelli, Fantasy
  4. Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas, Adventure stories
  5. 1984: A Novel by George Orwell, Classic fiction

Service tip: Reading recommendations

Not sure what to read next? You can browse our collection in many ways, but here’s some help to get you started.

  1. On the Home page, go to the New titles link under the section Check it out. You’ll find books for all ages and formats with links providing titles added in the last month, 3 or 6 months.
  2. Visit the Recommended page for titles featured by our Collections Librarian, the Top 5 most popular books over the last month and others.
  3. If you like specific reading genres like mysteries or science fiction, visit our Browse by category page to find all books in our collection under each category.

Enjoy finding your next great read!

Stay connected!

Logos of X, Facebook, and YouTube.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.