OTTAWA – Ottawa Public Library (OPL) is organizing two timely author events in partnership with the Ottawa International Writers Festival and Library and Archives Canada. Members of the public can watch both events on Zoom after registration or on Facebook Live. We encourage our audiences to read widely, and shop (or borrow) locally.
On May 26 at 1 pm, OPL is hosting a conversation on ending poverty with Hugh Segal, whose latest book, Bootstraps Need Boots, lays out the moral framework and the economic rationale for a universal basic income for all. For more than four decades, Hugh Segal, a self-described Red Tory warrior who disdains “bootstrap” approaches to poverty, has promoted policies, especially a basic annual income, to help the most economically vulnerable. In his revealing memoir, Segal shares how his life and experiences brought him to this most unlikely of places. Bootstraps Need Boots is a passionate argument not only for why a basic annual income makes economic sense, but for why it is the right thing to do.
On June 4 at 1 pm, OPL is also hosting a virtual book launch and conversation with David Waltner-Toews on animal diseases that jump to humans — zoonoses — including: what attracts them to humans, why they have become more common in recent history, and how we can keep them at bay. Almost all pandemics and epidemics have been caused by diseases that come to us from animals; including SARS, mad cow disease, and now, COVID-19. Epidemiologist, veterinarian, and ecosystem health specialist, David Waltner-Toews gathers the latest research to profile dozens of illnesses in his book On Pandemics. This title will be available online as an eBook from the Ottawa Public Library starting on June 3.