Students from SLIS served as volunteers, videographers, and enthusiastic attenders at the third all-day Readers' Advisory workshop, held at Edmonton Public Library on October 19. This free workshop has been held every other year since 2008, and is supported by local libraries and funded by the Department of Municipal Affairs in the Alberta Government, as well as receiving financial help from local organizations. Dr. Margaret Mackey of SLIS has served on the planning committee since its inception.
This year's speakers included well-known novelist and information activist Cory Doctorow, who addressed the complexities of copyright, DRM, and free access; and Groundwood Books publisher Patricia Aldana, who spoke about the upcoming launch of the National Reading Campaign. Local speakers were Dr. Heather Zwicker of the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, who talked about the Edmonton Pipelines project and how people read their own city; and Dr. Phil McRae of the Alberta Teachers' Association, who talked about our digital future.
About 175 people attended all or part of the day.