96 events at 62 branches across the city celebrate the
joy of reading
TORONTO
(Thursday, March 14, 2013) Firefighters, authors, storytellers
and artists, media celebrities, and an award-winning video game developer all
join Toronto Public Library to bring to life the 8th annual Keep
Toronto Reading Festival this April.
This
year’s city-wide celebration of reading will spotlight the One Book community
read: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
The themes of this timeless novel – media
saturation, censorship, memory and storytelling -- are explored at dozens of
events in every neighbourhood.
Highlights include:
- A
Ray Bradbury legacy tribute, with writer Michael Rowe, filmmaker Bruce McDonald
and others - Amusing
Ourselves to Death: Are we dumbing down as a society, as Bradbury warned? With
Mark Kingwell, Johanna Schneller, Sara Grimes and Nora Young. - Book
burning in the digital age, with John Ralston Saul and Charles Foran - Dirty
Comics: a look at censorship in comics
Plus
screenings of the Francois Truffaut film, discussions at 43 book clubs across
the city, and performances of passages from banned books. For kids, outreach officers from the Fire
Department read their favourite stories at branches across the city. There will
also be author readings, magic and crafts. Science fiction origami! Build your
Own Firefighter Mascot!
And,
in a continuing partnership with the Toronto District School Board, 1,000
students will be reading the book at 35 schools across the city.
To
celebrate the unveiling of our events lineup, the library’s Bookmobile will be giving
away copies of Fahrenheit 451 to the first ten visitors at seven select
stops from March 14 to 16. To view a list of the stops, visit keeptorontoreading.ca.
In
addition to events, Torontonians are invited to:
- Check out an exhibit of Ray
Bradbury memorabilia, including first editions of Fahrenheit 451 and a rare edition of his poetry, at the
Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy at Lillian
H. Smith Branch from April to June.
- Play the library’s first
alternate reality game: KTR 451.
Participants are invited to join the “Literary
Resistance” on April 2 to prevent the dystopian future that Bradbury
prophesized in Fahrenheit 451. They
can call 647-931-1585 to be assigned
three weekly missions that culminate in a live event on April 22.
- Join the TTC One Book Club. From
April 2 to 21, Twitter users can respond to daily questions posted from @TorontoLibrary
using the hashtag #OneBookTTC. Responses
will be posted on Pattison Onestop Media subway screens across the city.
- Participate via social media:
post a YouTube video
answering the question “If the library were burning, which book
would you save?” and tag your video as Keep Toronto Reading. Follow our staff and guest bloggers at torontopubliclibrary.ca And join the Library’s #TellTPL Twitter chat on April 10
about sci-fi and fantasy books.
For
complete festival information and event listings, go to keeptorontoreading.ca
Toronto
Public Library is the world's busiest urban public library system. Every year,
19 million people visit our branches in neighbourhoods across the city and
borrow 32 million items. To learn more about Toronto Public Library, visit our
website at torontopubliclibrary.ca or call Answerline at 416-393-7131. To get
the most current updates on what's happening at the library, follow us on
Twitter @torontolibrary.
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Media Contact:
Tina Srebotnjak 416-393-7098