DETAILS
Canada Reads
7 p.m. on Friday, March 25
Presented online via Zoom
Attendance is free but pre-registration is required
Visit sapl.libcal.com/event/3651197 to reserve your spot
Spring: a time for longer days, clock changes, and nature’s grand displays of competition between species or members of the same species. This "survival of the fittest" is best exemplified by CBC’s Canada Reads, the annual challenge where five Canadian books get defended by five book lovers from all walks of life. The St. Albert Public Library hosts its own version of the event with five local defenders.
“It's still my favourite program,” stated Michelle Steinhusen, adult programming librarian and organizer of the event, speaking like a true librarian.
With this year's theme being One Book to Connect Us, CBC has brought some great books to the forum. For St. Albert audiences, we will be treated to Julian Di Castri defending What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad; Natalie Joly defending Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez; Brett Lamoureux defending Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Muller; Kelsey Robbins defending Five Little Indians by Michelle Good; and Ray Watkins defending Washington Black by Esi Edugyan.
Certainly, they are all excellent books, but only one can be crowned victorious.
“I have read Washington Black. I have What Strange Paradise on my desk, and Scarborough is next. The other ones, I have to wait my turn. Five Little Indians has been checked out continually since it came out and Life in the City of Dirty Water is relatively new, so again, it’s checked out, but I know about them,” Steinhusen, a voracious reader, noted.
She explained that the St. Albert Public Library Readers Blog offers a fine synopsis of each title to prepare each attendee before the big show.
“It's nice because then you get a chance to really get a good idea of what the books are about, and there's links to interviews, so if you don't have a chance to read the books before Canada Reads, you at least have a good point of reference.”
Even though live events are now returning, the St. Albert Public Library’s version of Canada Reads has already been planned to be an online event. It will be presented via Zoom and streamed on the library’s YouTube channel as well, though the advantage to the former is that attendees will be able to ask questions and vote.
CBC’s Canada Reads takes place from March 28 to 31. Visit www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads to follow along. Steinhusen, in the true competitive spirit of spring, was sure to point out how the St. Albert event always precedes the national one.
"We always try and sneak ours in before CBC's Canada Reads ... because St. Albert tends to choose the right book. St. Albert's going to choose the book that they want and then we see what CBC Canada Reads does."
