Author Tours
Some ideas on how to host an author reading in a school or public library are available here. These are adapted, with permission, from a handout from the Young Alberta Book Society and from from CANSCAIP’s FAQs for School Visits. Other suggested activities on how to celebrate an author visit are also included. If more programming information is needed, please contact a Peace Library System Consultant.
In keeping with the Peace Library System's objective to provide quality programming to its member libraries, as well as assist libraries in celebrating the Canadian/Albertan literature, Peace Library System (PLS) arranges for up to four author tours yearly. School libraries may receive an author reading on a user-pay basis.
The Canadian Children's Book Festival/Young Alberta Book Festival (Taleblazers) is celebrated annually throughout October/November (Canadian Children's Book Week is the first week of November). The Canadian Children's Book Festival was originated by the Canadian Children's Book Centre which publishes Children’s Book News. Peace Library System also sponsors tours by authors in the spring.
Authors chosen to visit the region are selected based on their availability, suitability to perform public and school library readings, and fees. Authors visiting the region during the Taleblazers Festival are usually Albertans and suitable for younger audiences. Suggestions regarding appropriate authors may be made by contacting a Peace Library System consultant.
After determining which authors will visit the region, the selection of participating public and school libraries is made, and a schedule of readings is drawn up. Public libraries and schools contracting for the Full Service Package receive one author visit per year – either in the spring or fall.
Distances between libraries are a major consideration when drawing up the schedule of readings. However, the first schedules sent out are draft schedules only and input from participating libraries is welcomed. Schedules may be changed to fit school schedules or public library hours.
In most cases the libraries are not responsible for transporting authors around the region. A Peace Library System staff person usually accompanies the author to the various readings. If a library's assistance is needed in this regard, a request to that effect will be made early in the preparation of the schedule.
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