Our Authors, Our Advocates

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Diana Beresford-Kroeger

To create the words for a book is an act of liberty.  Librarians ring that bell so that all can hear, from the young to the old.  This is the cement of civilization.  All libraries, both public and private, are the places in which I feel most at home.  And comforted.

Diana Beresford-Kroeger is the author of The Global Forest, Arboretum Borealis: A Lifeline of the Planet, A Garden for Life: Bioplanning a North Temperate Garden, Arboretum America: A Philosophy of the Forest, and a collection of short stories, Time Will Tell.  Arboretum America won the American National Arbour Day Foundation Media Award in 2005.  Utne Reader named her one of 25 Visionaries in 2011.

Raised in Ireland, Beresford-Kroeger now lives outside the city of Ottawa. She has studied classical botany, medical biochemistry, organic and radionuclear chemistry and experimental surgery in Ireland, the US and Canada.  She opens her sprawling private research gardens in Merrickville, Canada, to fellow botanists, gardeners and to the general public as a service to the global community. Find out more at: http://www.stuartbernstein.com/beresford-kroeger.html

Rachna Gilmore

Libraries are pure magic. Where else can we find magic portals to worlds far flung and strange? Where else can we find ourselves reflected in the human range of experience as recorded by writers who lived long ago? Where else can we connect so profoundly with all of humanity – it’s through books that we realize that what unites us, the people of this world, is far more powerful and pervasive than any superficial differences. Libraries offer escape, delight, education, dreams, fodder, connections, links and most of all possibilities. A hallmark of any great culture is the value placed in the arts. Libraries are a tangible celebration of that value.

Rachna Gilmore is a Governor General’s Literary Award-winning author of over twenty best-selling children’s books. Her titles include picture books such as The Flute, Catching Time, Making Grizzle Grow, A Screaming Kind of Day and others. Her children’s novels include the Silver Birch Award nominated book, That Boy Red, The Trouble With Dilly, the fantasy novel, The Sower of Tales, and others. Rachna’s books have received numerous honours and awards and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. She lives in Ottawa, where she continues to plark – play, work and lark – at dreaming up weird and wonder-filled tales. For more about Rachna, see her website: http://www.rachnagilmore.ca  and her blog: http://rachnagilmore.blogspot.com

Kate Jaimet

To me, the library is a sanctuary. Step inside, and I feel at peace. No-one bothers me to buy their gew-gaws. No-one hustles me in and out. Shelves and shelves full of thoughts await me. I know I will find a friendly name: a beloved author whose newest work I haven’t read; a new author whose work I’ve been meaning to try. And when I leave the library, I take a part of it with me, in the book that I’ve chosen. A book that will allow me to enter the sanctuary again, just by opening its cover and turning its pages.

Kate Jaimet is a former Ottawa Citizen reporter and a writer of books for children and young adults. Her funny middle-grade novel Dunces Anonymous was a finalist for the 2010 City of Ottawa Book Award and the 2010 Silver Birch Award. Her teen sports novel Slam Dunk was chosen among the “Best Books for Kids & Teens” by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Her next book, coming out in fall, 2012, is a rock-climbing adventure for teens entitled Edge of Flight. Follow her blog at www.writingrrrl.com or check out her website at www.katejaimet.com/

Jenn Kelly

Libraries are the best place to feed our imaginations and set fire to our souls.

Jenn Kelly is the author of Jackson Jones: The Tale of a Boy… books. She is currently working on some Young Adult fiction.  She spent many, many years at Centennial library, where they would only let her borrow 6 books at a time. She is very thankful that changed. You can find her carrying dozens of books with a latte in hand, or at www.jennkelly.com

Adrianna Steele-Card

I was five years old when I moved to Ottawa. I have many fond memories of my time spent at local libraries. I saw puppet shows, nfb films, met authors and illustrators, did crafts, and heard many stories. My library card was the first piece of I.D. I remember carrying around. My public school, Dunlop, had a great library as well as ‘the Book Mobile’! A magical motorized book dispenser on wheels with a stair case that lowered to the ground to invite you on board! I loved Book Mobile days! I know that all these experiences have influenced my art and my poetry. I am often told that I have a Dr.Suess, Charles M. Shultz and a Beatrix Potter feel to my work .Talk about high praise! I am thankful I had these and many other books in my life. The Ottawa Library had a great deal to do with my being able to access these treasures. In a connected yet disconnected world these institutions become even more important for the cultural stimulation of young minds.

Born in Toronto, raised in Ottawa, Adrianna currently resides in the woods of the Lanark Highlands with her best friend, husband, sculptor Dave Card and two furry four legged children, Caledonia(Callie, a bouncy black polydactyl cat) and Peter Pan(Pete, an orange and white long haired, licky cat).

Adrianna’s style and imagination have captured the attention of collectors, art lovers, and children both nationally and internationally. She has done commissions for individuals and groups in Canada, Switzerland, the United States and Britain. In 2009 her self-published book Adrianna Art for the Young at Heart (a delightful collection of Adrianna originals fused with some Adrianna poetry) caught the eye of Second Story Press of Toronto. This new found relationship resulted in a new book in the Second

Story catalogue illustrated by Adrianna. Sandy’s Incredible Shrinking Footprint was released March 2010 to rave reviews! See more of her work: www.peaceofmindcreations.com

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