Helping our children and youth fall in love with reading; the Love of Literature Book Club

BY PAUL JUNOR

There are many great things that black kids can look forward to in the summer of 2021 as students take a break from school. Fortunately, the Love of Literature Book Club will provide a virtual summer reading program for black students aged 7-18 that will keep them busy.

According to its website loveofliteraturebookclub.ca, this black-focused book club’s purpose is simply to foster a love of black literature. It states, “It is bringing black students together and helping them celebrate their identity through  literature.”  Its vision is to create, ”A World where all children feel included, represented and celebrated in books.” Its mission, “Our book club exists to help black children and youth fall in love with reading through Africentric-founded books.”

It was founded by Danielle Norris, who worked for six years as a communications specialist for the Peel District School Board (PDSB) and currently works as the Manager of Marketing and Communication for Retired Teachers of Ontario. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 2005 and acquired a Graduate Certificate in Corporate Communications from Sheridan College in 2006.

Her team consists of six individuals and there are five members on her board, where she serves as founder, facilitator, executive director for Canada’s only non-profit book club for black youths.

I was able to Interview Danielle Norris on Tuesday, May 25^th and she provided me with lots of information about her motivations, passions and interests. She is purposeful and intentional in using black literature as a vehicle to empower, elevate and inspire young minds to see themselves positively reflected through images that foster black excellence and result in the development of academic, life and social skills.

She told me that the book club was started in October 2017 with eight girls, then subsequently eight boys as a year-round reading club in Brampton. She mentioned that prior to starting the reading club, she did research to find out if there were any s that was targeted to black kids and discovered that there were none. She has used the Brampton library facilities and  Knowledge Book Store in order to host the reading clubs. Her guiding principles are:

• All books are focused on black characters and black stores.
• We give priority to black-owned bookstores and books by black authors.
• We are here to educate, inspire and empower black youth to celebrate their identity through books that represent them.
• We create a safe space for readers to discuss books, explore themes and celebrate their identity through Africentric literature, self-esteem, awareness and pride.
• We review and discuss Africentric books to help improve literacy skills, build self-confidence and instil a positive sense of identity in black children and youth.

Danielle writes on her website,”Love of  literature is the perfect blend of my three favourite things, reading, youth, and celebrating black culture. I love talking about books with the kids and wish I had a book club like this when I was growing up.”

As a parent of two boys and one girl, she knows personally the value of fostering a love of reading. The book club is currently recruiting for their summer virtual reading program. The cost is $125 for children between 7 and 10 and $150  for those between 11 to 18.

It will be a six-week program which starts on July 10^th and ends on August 14^th. The deadline for registering is Tuesday, June 1^st. Any parent/guardian or caregiver who ins interested can check the website:www.loveofliteraturebookclub.ca or Facebook:

https;//www.facebook.com/loveofliterature.bookclub or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveofliterature.booclu.com or contact  647-224-2230.