Sent to me by Rita Toews, founder of Read an E-book Week—she has lobbied the Canadian government, with fantastic results:
Great news! By virtue of an Order by the 41st Parliament of Canada, First Session, Motion M-293 was passed declaring the month of March Read an E-Book Month!
The Order reads:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize that the ePublishing industry has created economic opportunities for entrepreneurs, authors, publishers and e-reader manufacturers; (b) recognize that e-books present significant benefits for seniors and children; (c) recognize that e-books are an environmentally-friendly alternative to books; (d) declare the month of March as “Read an E-book Month”; (e) support the goals and ideals of “Read an E-book Month”; and (f) encourage Canadians to observe “Read an E-book Month”.
Rita goes on to say:
“I’m proud to see that Canada has taken steps to recognize the innovation of e-book entrepreneurs and the value this new technology brings to society.”
And just as we were wondering what great new thing we’d be able to bring to REBW 2012! Today, Canada; tomorrow, ze vorld!!
We must be slow readers up here … 🙂
Rita, congratulations! We Yanks can be so, so behind the times–shame on President Obama for all his talk about literacy and technology, without the White House doing an E-Book Week despite emails to the White House from you and others. Now, if Canada and the U.S. can come through with truly well-stocked national digital library systems! Keep up the good work for both countries, and meanwhile thanks to Steve for posting the item.
David
My pleasure. I continue to support Rita’s efforts, and to lend a hand in website creation and maintenance for the Read an E-book Month site as needed.