Snapshot of the BPAA: Past and Present

Since its establishment in 1975, the Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) has supported the development of the book publishing industry in Alberta and contributed significantly to the current vitality of the publishing landscape in the province. Join us in celebrating the remarkable history of the BPAA! Explore highlights from the past 50 years below.

Increasing awareness of Alberta-published books

Over the years, the BPAA has run several marketing campaigns to increase the awareness and visibility of Alberta-published books. One of the first catalogues published by the BPAA was Books From Home, which recommended books from Alberta’s writers and publishers.Three "Books from Home" Covers: Alberta Books from Home 88-99, Alberta Books from Home 88, and Alberta Books from Home Holiday Edition.

Running from the early 1990s to 2010, the BPAA published a yearly catalogue entitled Best of the West. The catalogue featured books published in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and ManitobaFour "Best of the West" covers: Best of the West 96-97, Best of the West 97-98, Best of the West 2002-2003, and Best of the West 2009-2010

Evolving from this, Read Alberta Books was a series of print and online ads that ran in Alberta Views magazine from 2011 – 2024.11 book covers on a teal background. Below the book covers is the title "Read Alberta Books" on a purple background. "Read" and "Books" is written in orange font; "Books" is written in teal font. An accessible icon is in the right bottom corner, with the text "Available in an Accessible Format".

Currently, the BPAA publishes the Read Alberta Publisher Catalogue, which highlights Alberta books from the current year.Three Read Alberta Publisher Catalogue covers: 2022 Read Alberta Publisher Catalogue, 2023 Read Alberta Publisher Catalogue, 2024 Read Alberta Publisher Catalogue.

Whatever the medium or catchy name, the BPAA’s intention has been the same: to highlight the quality and diversity of Alberta published books.

Contributing to industry development

Accessible Publishing

The BPAA strongly believes that everyone deserves access to great stories and learning resources. With this as an intrinsic value, the BPAA has been committed to supporting accessible publishing activities and ensuring that Alberta books are available to all readers.

Since 2015, the BPAA has worked with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind to create DAISY accessible audiobooks of Alberta books— and was the first regional book publishing association to do so! The BPAA has also managed several accessible eBook conversion projects, which assisted Alberta publishers in remediating their backlist titles into accessible ePUB 3 formats.

To ensure that print-disabled readers can easily discover the plethora of accessible books from Alberta publishers, the BPAA launched the Accessible Alberta: eBooks for Everyone Collection. This collection has over 800 accessible eBooks and audiobooks and continues to grow as new titles are added quarterly.

A illustration of a person laying down reading a book on their phone. A cat is beside them. The Accessible Alberta: eBooks for Everyone logo is to the left of the illustration.

Export Development

The BPAA has long been aware of the importance of ensuring Alberta books are represented on the international stage.

The Read Alberta Booth on the Canada Stand at Frankfurt: A booth with three tables with two chairs in the centre of the booth. The wrap on the walls of the booth is teal with mountains along the centre back walls. "Read Alberta" is written in bold text above the mountains. Shelves on the walls display books. In the lead up to Canada as Guest of Honour at the 2020/21 Frankfurt Book Fair, the BPAA prepared the Literary Landscape of Western Canada catalogue. In collaboration with the Association of British Columbia Book Publishers, the catalogue represented the breadth of books published in Canada’s western provinces.

In the years since the launch of the catalogue, the BPAA has continued to showcase Alberta books at the Frankfurt Book Fair by hosting a booth on the Canada Stand, often being the only provincial book publishing association to do so.

Supporting local representation

Read Alberta and Prairie Indigenous eBook Collections

The BPAA strongly believes in the importance of ensuring Alberta libraries and patrons have access to local content and stories. In 2017, they partnered with the Alberta government to make Alberta-published eBooks available to readers across the province through the Read Alberta eBook Collection. Currently, there are over 2300 eBooks and audiobooks available to Alberta library patrons, and the collection is continually enriched as titles and magazines are added on a regular basis.

We also launched the Prairie Indigenous eBook Collection, which increases access to stories by Indigenous authors and writings about Indigenous culture. The collection was launched in January 2019 and brings together over 500 titles from publishers in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

Alberta Books for Schools

In addition to ensuring that Alberta libraries provide access to local content, the BPAA targeted Alberta educators to promote made-in-Alberta curriculum resources. The Alberta Books for Schools catalogue and online database connects educators with Alberta-published books that are mapped to the Alberta K-12 curriculum. This continually updated resource makes it easy for educators to incorporate relevant, local content into the classroom. 

The text "Discover local, curriculum-mapped books with Alberta Books for Schools" is in dark red text on a pastel pink background. Below the text is a the spine of a book, with the text "a free resource from the Book Publishers Association of Alberta. An illustration of a character holding books is in the bottom left corner; a character with a backpack is in the bottom right corner of the graphic.

Read Alberta Website

In 2021, the Read Alberta website was launched as a hub for Alberta’s readers, authors, publishers, booksellers, libraries, and educators to connect, support, and learn more about one another. Read Alberta features and highlights Alberta-published books and magazines in celebration of the distinct, diverse voices coming out of our own province.

Teal and orange mountainscape. "Read Alberta.ca" is written in bold black font across the mountains.

Memories

We encourage people to share their memories and stories of the association, which will be shared on this page and incorporated into the programming for our celebration. Memories can be shared by email (info@bookpublishers.ab.ca) or on social media using the hashtag #BPAA50Years.

We look forward to the next 50 years of supporting Alberta book publishers in telling Alberta’s story! Stay connected with the BPAA on social media (@ABbookpub) and subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter.