Welcome to the BPC

The Book and Periodical Council is the umbrella organization for associations involved in the writing and editing, publishing and manufacturing, distribution, and selling and lending of books and periodicals in Canada.

Our full members represent approximately 6,000 individuals and 5,500 firms and institutions. Our associate members represent an additional several thousand individuals, firms and institutions.

WHAT'S NEW?

The Book and Periodical Council and the Book Publishers’ Professional Association present

Bookstore of the Future
Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Join us for another thought provoking discussion on the issues, trends and portents affecting creators and developers in publishing:

What will bookstores look like in the future? In a recent article, writer Sarah Sheard imagines small neighbourhood shops that offer coffee, cake, and print-on-demand books accessed electronically and printed while-you-wait. How will the advent of the e-book and quickly changing technology affect bookstores and the bookselling industry in the future?

• Will writers soon simply upload their work onto an e-book retail platform and have it flow directly from there onto the latest e-reader?
• Or is the tactile pleasure of having multiple copies of books to browse through too much to give up?
• The bookstore is continually evolving as a destination and a place of community. How will readership develop in both the physical and online communities in the future?

These questions and many more pose challenges and amazing possibilities for the publishing world as we know it. Join the Idea Exchange for an in-depth and conjectural discussion about The Bookstore of the Future.

“Bookstore of the Future” Idea Exchange will be held at:

The Arts and Letters Club
14 Elm St, Toronto, Ontario
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
5:30–7:00 pm, doors open at 5:00 pm
$10 general admission, $8 BPC members, $5 for students

Please RSVP to publicity@theBPC.ca

» Download the flyer

» Visit "The Idea Exchange" on Facebook.

Book Summit 2010
Hot New Models: The Amazing Transformation of Business and Culture in the World of Books

Friday, June 18, 2010
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto

Hot New Models will look at how the business of books is transforming itself and creating new models in every arena — libraries, bookstores, publishing houses, literary agencies — and how some nimble thinkers are leading us into the future. Featuring keynote speaker David Pogue, technology columnist for The New York Times.

» Visit the Book Summit website for details

Public Events Planned Across Canada in Support of 2010 Freedom to Read Week

Toronto, February 11, 2010 — Public readings, contests and panel discussions will be held across Canada as part of the 2010 Freedom to Read Week (Feb. 21st to 27th). These events are a great opportunity for Canadians to express themselves on the issue of censorship and the right to free speech and opinion.

» Download the press release

Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award

The Book and Periodical Council is this year’s winner of the Les Fowlie Intellectual Freedom Award. The honour is awarded by the Ontario Library Association.

The BPC won the award because of the “tireless efforts” of its Freedom of Expression Committee “in promoting intellectual freedom for all Canadians” and “organizing the annual Freedom to Read Week,” said Shelagh Paterson, Executive Director of the OLA. The award is named after Mr. Les Fowlie, the former Chief Librarian of the Toronto Public Library and a staunch defender of Canadians’ intellectual freedom. Fowlie was also a past chair of the BPC’s Freedom of Expression Committee.

The OLA will present the award during Freedom to Read Week at 8 a.m. on Friday, February 26, 2010 at the OLA’s Super Conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The all Conference plenary will also feature Ezra Levant. Mr. Levant is a writer, lawyer and the former publisher of the Western Standard.

The Good Fight! The Legal Limits of Free Expression

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West, Toronto

The Book and Periodical Council invites you to Freedom to Read Week’s popular panel and award event. Outspoken experts will discuss recent libel developments, the defence of public interest, the impact of law on stories that writers cover and the push and pull between lawyers and journalists about what gets published.

» Download the flyer for details

The Book and Periodical Council Announces Its Executive, Board and Committee Chairs, 2009-2010

The Book and Periodical Council is pleased to announce its Executive, Board, and Committee Chairs for the years 2009-2010, as decided at our June 24, 2009, Annual General Meeting.

Please see PDF for full Board list.

Email Alert! from Universal Logistics Inc. re: New Canadian requirements for wood packaging material from China — Effective September 1, 2009, a valid International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) stamp will be the only accepted treatment certification method for wood packaging. [more]

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