S01 E04 - The Booksellers and Librarians

Read The North by The Word On The Street
Visit a few of Toronto's famed independent bookstores and sneak into the archives of the Merril Collection with us in this celebration of booksellers, librarians, and their communities. Hosted by Rebecca Diem Produced by Quinton Bradshaw Music by James EllercampSpecial thanks to Anjula Gogia, Cory Doctorow, Sephora Henderson, and John Deg  ...  See more
May 30 2022
Episode’s Soundbites
  • Anju Gogia reflects on the 2022 Freedom to Read Award00:07:51 - 00:10:22
  • Cory Doctorow on Judith Merril's impact on Toronto's SFF com ...00:14:51 - 00:18:18
  • Canada's Public Lending Right, as explained by John Degen00:20:19 - 00:23:15
Transcription

Rebecca Diem: Hi, I’m Rebecca Diem, the Digital Strategy and Communications Manager for The Word On The Street. This is Read the North: a series about CanLit, brought to you by your favourite neighbourhood book festival.

[theme music - ambient indie/electronic by composer James Ellercamp]

When the Word On The Street–also known as WOTS–was first dreamed up, one of the big hopes for the festival was that it would make books and reading accessible to a wider audience. For one exciting day, every year, the vibrant festival streetscape could welcome both hardcore fans and reluctant readers– who came for the fun… and then stayed for the books.

For over thirty years, we’ve been achieving that goal. This year, we’re even expanding the festival to two full days. But WOTS isn’t the only plac

See full transcription
Keywords
canadian literaturetoronto historycory doctorowcanadian historypublic fundingjudith merrilpublic librarybookstoreselling booksscience fiction