Program

Master of Ceremonies: Stanley Péan
Writer, radio host, screenwriter, journalist, president of the Québec Union of Writers (UNEQ) and editor of Le Libraire.
Summit Facilitator: Renaud Houzeau de Lehaie

Day 1 – Thursday, January 20, 2011

8:15 am
BREAKFAST and REGISTRATION
8:45 am
WELCOME and RECAP [VIDEO]
 

Words of welcome from Dr. Guy Berthiaume (Québec)
President and director general of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.

What would a reading Canada look like? The first summit brought together people from Brazil, the Netherlands, Mexico, and the United States – countries with a national reading strategy – to share their ideas and their successes. This year we are looking at programs that will inspire and challenge us, and at the issues we must address.

Introduction to the National Reading Campaign
Patricia Aldana (Ontario)
Founder of Groundwood Books, former president of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and founding member of the steering committee of the National Reading Campaign.
Jean François Bouchard (Québec)
Group Publisher of Bayard Press Canada since 2008, member of the board of directors of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and a member of the National Reading Campaign steering committee.

9:30- 10:15 am
OPENING KEYNOTE [VIDEO]
Antonine Maillet (New Brunswick)
Author, professor and screenwriter, member of the Royal Society of Canada. 

Diving into the novel as though into a microcosm; a tiny world that opens onto the whole universe. One senses it coming, smells it, feels it nearing, and is left forever changed.

10:15- 10:30 am
BREAK

Block 1: Babies and Young Children

According to the National Strategy for Early Literacy Summary Report 2009, one in four children entering grade one are poorly prepared to learn and are already significantly behind their peers. To become lifelong readers, babies need the care of loving adults who communicate their own love of reading, and who provide regular, frequent, and joyful exposure to many books. How can we make sure that every child has the chance to grow up as a reader?

10:30- 12 noon
CONFERENCE: BABIES (0-4) AND READING [VIDEO]
Moderator: Chantal Vaillancourt 

Clara N. Bohrer (Michigan)
An advocate for early childhood literacy and the current chair of the Every Child Ready to Read Program 

Lucie Dion (Québec)
Director of cultural and community life in Sainte-Foy-Sillery-Cap-Rouge in Québec City. She is in charge of the Une naissance, un livre program across the entire province of Québec.

Jacqueline Kerguéno (France)
Psychologist and speech therapist, she is involved in the publication of two youth-focused magazines, Pomme d’Api and J’aime lire, and in promoting literacy in developing nations.

12- 12:15 pm
CONSULTATION WITH FACILITATOR
12:15- 1:15 pm
LUNCH  

Block 2: New Canadians

Those new to Canada need the opportunity join in our literary conversation if they are to participate fully in our country’s life. Beyond addressing the obvious barrier of language, how would a reading strategy incorporate the voices of all Canadians? There are language acquisition programs in place across the country: are they empowering or effective? Does reading have a role to play in the lives of newcomers to Canada?

1:15- 2:00 pm
KEYNOTE [VIDEO]
John Ralston Saul (Ontario)
Author of works that have been published in more than a dozen languages and currently the editor of Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series.
2:00- 3:00 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: NEW CANADIANS [VIDEO]
Moderator: Stanley Péan 

Françoise Armand (Québec)
Professor in the Department of Education at the University of Montreal, whose research is in the teaching of second languages, specifically in reading French as a second language in multicultural and multilingual contexts. 

Body Ngoy (Ontario)
Founder and President of Franco-Présence in Ontario

Heather Robertson (Alberta)
Customer Services Manager of the Calgary Public Library since 2005, responsible for developing innovative programs targeted towards seniors, new Canadians, and persons with disabilities.

Rodney Saint-Éloi (Montréal)
Writer, publisher, academic and founder of the Mémoire d’encrier publishing house, and editor, and vice president of the literary section of the ANEL

3:00- 3:15 pm
BREAK
3:15- 3:30 pm
VIDEO
Mots partagés
Introduction by Marie Désilets (Québec)
3:30- 4:00 pm
COMMUNICATION-JEUNESSE PRESENTATION [VIDEO]
This talk will focus on what Communication-Jeunesse has accomplished in its 40 years’ work and on its reading mediation programs such as Vivre la littérature d’ici pour les jeunes, a program aimed at youth literature and favouring social and cultural integration of immigrants to their new environments. Their process is based on the cultural approach in that:
• Québec and French-Canadian literature are tools for discovering and sharing our culture
• Reading is a tool for accruing knowledge
• French is a tool for communication
France Desmarais (Québec)
The director of research at Communication-Jeunesse, managing the annual selection of books and reading initiatives for the program, as well as Vivre la littérature d’ici pour les jeunes, a program designed for newcomers to Canada. This presentation will deal with young immigrants and include a presentation by the Communication Jeunesse Reading Club
4:00- 5:15 pm
WORKING GROUP PRESENTATIONS [VIDEO]
At the first summit, many of those in attendance were inspired to get involved. They formed working groups around the issues that had emerged (Aboriginals, new Canadians, preschoolers, children in school, access, and reading for pleasure). After the summit they invited others to come on board to form working groups. Each working group would gather information about what already exists and what is needed to make sure everybody has a part in a reading Canada. The result is a network of knowledgeable, committed people who are working to provide the information that will set the groundwork for a nation-wide reading strategy.
5:15- 5:30 pm
CONSULTATION WITH FACILITATOR
5:45- 7:00 pm
RECEPTION
Hôtel Gouverneur Place Dupuis

Day 2 – Friday, January 21, 2011

8:15- 8:45 am
BREAKFAST 

8:45- 9:00 am
REVIEW of 1st DAY [VIDEO]
By Master of Ceremonies Stanley Péan

Block 3: VARIA

9:00- 9:45 am
KEYNOTE
Craig Alexander (Ontario) [VIDEO]
Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for TD Bank Financial Group and the current President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics, will address the importance of reading in creating a sounds economy.
9:45- 10:30 am
Keynote [VIDEO]
Mr. Li Qingming (China)
Principal of Nanshan Experimental School, will describe how he has created an outstanding school with some of the best results in China in both university entrance exams and in number of characters read by its pupils. This was achieved by focusing on reading promotion, free reading, and the use of trade books to teach most subjects.
10:30- 10:45 am
BREAK
10:45- 11:30 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: ABORIGINAL CANADIANS [VIDEO]
Moderator: Harvey McCue (Ontario)
Ojibway educator, professor, researcher and a specialist in First Nations elementary and secondary education. 

Aboriginal people are an important part of a nation-wide reading strategy. Many programs already exist, but everyone agrees that there is still much to be done. How do we build on a foundation in which storytelling is highly valued, but where challenges of distance, access, and sometimes poverty can make a reading strategy difficult to implement?

Mélanie Valcin(Quebec)
The manager of a variety of community-based literacy programs in Québec, with Frontier College, many of which are in collaboration with aboriginal communities. 

Dr. John Kim Bell(Ontario)
Producer, Composer and Conductor. He is the founder of the Canadian Native Arts Foundation, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation and the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards.

Michel Noel

11:45- 12:00 noon
CONSULTATION WITH FACILITATOR
12:00- 1:00 pm
LUNCH

Block 4: BOYS and READING

Parents, teachers, and librarians all report that boys lag behind girls in reading. Even boys who are avid readers as small children often lose interest by the time they reach their preteens. Is it a lack of relevant reading material? Competition from other, more immediate, forms of entertainment? Low expectations from adults? Teaching practices? What can we do to keep boys engaged with the written word?

1:00- 1:45 pm
KEYNOTE: BOYS AND YOUNG MEN AS READERS [VIDEO]
Jon Scieszka (USA)
Teacher and author of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, a memoir entitled Knucklehead, and his most recent work Spaceheadz. He is the first United States Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
1:45- 2:00 pm
VIDEO: Coup de poing
Introduction by Marie Désilets.
2:00- 2:45 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: BOYS AND READING [VIDEO]
Moderator: Jean-François Bouchard(Quebéc)
Group Publisher of Bayard Press Canada since 2008, member of the board of directors of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre and a member of the National Reading Campaign steering committee. 

Félix Maltais (Quebéc)
Editor and founder of Éditions les Débrouillards a youth science education movement, and recipient of the Michael Smith prize for the promotion of science and the Communication Prize from the Ministère des Communications du Québec. 

Shane Peacock (Ontario)
Novelist, playwright, screenwriter and journalist, and the author of the award-winning The Boy Sherlock Holmes series.

Jean-Yves Levesque (Quebec)
Professor at Université Catholique de l’Ouest (Angers) and co-author of Lecture et écriture chez les garçons de 9 à 13 ans : dispositifs pour développer les intérêts et les pratiques et une formation : La lecture et l’écriture : pour que les garçons s’y intéressent

2:45- 3:00 pm
PRESENTATION OF POINT DE MATCH [VIDEO]
Martine Boucher and Pierre Richard Simon
This program pairs youth sports teams and libraries, and is run by the City of Montreal and the Quebéc Ministry of Education.
3:00- 3:15 pm
BREAK

Block 5: NEW TECHNOLOGIES

3:15- 4:30 pm
KEYNOTE: NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND READING [VIDEO]
Marie-Josée Berger (Ontario)
University of Ottawa researcher, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Ontario, whose team has initiated a pilot project incorporating the electronic book into a 10th grade classroom at École secondaire catholique de Hawksbury. The data from the project (collected in 2009) is currently being analyzed and a final report will be available in the spring 2011.
3:30- 4:15 pm
KEYNOTE: NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND READING [VIDEO]
Bruno Guglielminetti (Québec)
Journalist, author, director, public speaker, and new technologies expert. In 2009 Bruno Guglieminetti received the National Award for Excellence in Scientific and Technology Reporting from the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance. For many years Radio-Canada, La Presse and Le Devoir have been the forums for his ideas; he is now Director of Digital Communications for National, one of Canada’s largest public relations firms.
4:30- 5:00 pm
TOWARD THE THIRD SUMMIT [VIDEO]
The purpose of the first two TD National Reading Summits is to create the groundwork for a national reading strategy. What have we learned and what more do we have to know before we can begin the task of affecting public policy at every level? 

Introducing Mark Sarner is Annie Kidder (Ontario), the Executive Director and founder of People for Education.

Mark Sarner
Founder of Manifest Communications and a leading authority on social marketing. He is also on the board of the Canadian Journalism Foundation and the advisory board of the Literary Review of Canada, as well as being a special advisor to the Environics Institute and a Fellow of Massey College.

5:00 – 5:30 pm
REPORT ON CONSULTATIONS WITH FACILITATOR
5:30 pm
A CALL TO ACTION: THE VANCOUVER SUMMIT [VIDEO]
Patricia Aldana and Rick Wilks, co-chairs of the National Reading Campaign.
If you’ve been inspired by the events of the second TD National Reading Summit, get involved! Whether it’s advocating for children at home and in classrooms, working with Aboriginal communities’ literacy efforts, starting or supporting community programs where you live, or working with policy makers, creating a reading Canada depends on all of us.
And join us in Vancouver next year as we focus on policy makers and action plans to lead us to our own national reading strategy.