Canada’s Most Popular Children’s Reading Festival Returns to Ottawa

Ottawa Mayor Declares May 16 as Official Festival of Tree Day

NEWS RELEASE OTTAWA, ON (April 9, 2014) – The Ontario Library Association’s Festival of Trees™ takes its show on the road to Ottawa, ON. We are also excited to announce that Mayor Jim Watson will officially declare May 16, 2014, the Ontario Library Association’s Festival of Trees Day in Ottawa, in recognition of the thousands of young readers participating in the largest youth recreational reading program in Canada. Close to 1,000 intermediate and high school students will join authors at the Nepean Sportplex and Confederation High School to celebrate the Forest of Reading® and the best of Canadian young adult fiction and non-fiction. The one-day event will bring students across the city together with Red Maple™ and White Pine™ nominated authors. The students, who have spent the past months reading the authors’ nominated works, will vote for their favourite books. The festival will include appearances by Eric Walters, Valerie Sherrard, Kenneth Oppel, David A. Poulsen, Colleen Nelson, Lindsay Moynihan, Cindy Babyn, and Cynthia J. Faryon. This fun-filled day will feature an awards ceremony, local entertainment, workshops by authors, autograph signings, prizes, and much more! The Ottawa event is a new initiative that springs from the success of the long-running Festival of Trees ceremony in Toronto, which regularly draws more than 7,000 young readers to meet their favourite authors in a two-day festival at the Harbourfront Centre. In 2012, the OLA offered a similar festival for grades 4 to 8, but this is the first time hosting one for grade 7 to 12 students anywhere in Ontario. The festival takes place on May 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are now on sale from the Forest of Reading website for $10 plus HST. Like us on the Forest of Reading Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @ForestofReading!

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About the Forest of Reading®: The Forest of Reading is the largest recreational reading program of its kind in Canada, with more than 250,000 participants each year. The OLA’s Forest of Reading offers eight reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. Committees of library practitioners select the nominated titles and readers vote for the winners. About the Ontario Library Association: The Ontario Library Association (OLA) is a centre of excellence for the library and information sector, with nearly 5,000 members who work in public, school, academic and special libraries. OLA enables members to advocate for the right of individuals to have free and equitable access to information. Our members research, develop and participate in educational programs designed to provide exemplary library services.

 

   

Signature OLA events include the annual Super Conference and the Forest of Reading® program. Follow us on Twitter @ONLibraryAssoc and like us on Facebook at Ontario Library Association. Media and program contacts:

Meredith Tutching Program Coordinator, Forest of Reading Ontario Library Association 416.363.3388 x222 mtutching@accessola.com

Lauren Hummel Marketing and Communications Coordinator Ontario Library Association 416.363.3388 x231 lhummel@accessola.com