OTTAWA– To start off the new year, Ottawa Public Library invites all cardholders to enjoy free, unlimited simultaneous access to Viby Kim Thúy, in eBook and eAudiobook formats across different platforms, as part of a month-long initiative from the Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) called One eRead Canada.
Throughout the pandemic, OPL has offered free high-quality content and programming to keep Library customers connected and inspired from one lockdown to another. The book will be available in English and French – without holds or waitlists – to all OPL cardholders from January 1 to 31, 2021. This brief and masterful novel about the lives and experiences of Vietnamese refugees in Canada was a finalist for the 2019 Governor General’s Literary Award in translation and longlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.
A couple of weeks into the new year, Ottawa Public Library (OPL) will host a live Q&A with the author Kim Thúy on January 19 (in English) and January 20 (in French) as part of One eRead Canada, the first national, bilingual digital book club. More than 600 Canadian public libraries will share and join in these virtual conversations, that will give an opportunity for readers to interact directly with the author from the comfort of their home. And all month, readers across the country enjoying the unlimited simultaneous access to Vi can discuss the book with fellow One eRead Canada participants by joining the One eRead Canada Facebook Group.
Danielle McDonald, OPL’s CEO, is pleased that OPL is not only participating but helping to lead this collaborative initiative by public libraries across Canada. “Everyone benefits from stronger and better eContent in libraries,” she said. “One eRead Canada is raising awareness about library access to eContent and encouraging dialogue about a wonderful Canadian book,” McDonald continued “This initiative falls perfectly in line with our mission to inspire learning, spark curiosity, and connect people.”
One eRead Canadais an important project undertaken by CULC, which is striving to resolve the prohibitive costs and purchasing restrictions public libraries face related to eContent. CULC’s recent eContent for Librariescampaign, in which OPL actively participated, drew attention to major multinational publishers’ excessively high prices and restrictive purchasing models for eBooks and eAudiobooks. One eRead Canadaand similar programs introduce readers and listeners to new titles and authors, positively impacting sales of digital content – to the benefit of publishers, authors, and readers.