Promouvoir le livre jeunesse et son accessibilité
In his presentation to the Commission de la culture et de l'éducation sur la réglementation du prix de vente des livres neufs imprimés et numériques (Committee on Culture and Education on the regulation of retail prices of new printed and digital books), Claude Chagnon, President of the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation, stressed the importance of facilitating access to books for disadvantaged families. The Foundation's paper (in French) stated that measures aimed at promoting access to books in daycares, schools, libraries and bookstores in all regions of Quebec and maintaining the active production and distribution of children's books by Quebec authors would definitely contribute to making books a key element in the educational success of every child in the province.
The Foundation considers, however, that it is crucial to evaluate the impact that regulating the price of new books would have on disadvantaged families' economic access to books, especially since contact with books offers so many benefits in terms of children's affective, language, motor and cognitive development, improved academic results and reading habits, and increased library use.
Over the past year, the Foundation has deployed several initiatives promoting books as the best toys for even the very youngest children. In addition to its mass awareness campaign and feature article on books in the magazine Naître et Grandir and on the website naitreetgrandir.com, the Foundation distributed 60,000 free copies of the children's book My Very Own Book (Chaminou et ses amis) in underprivileged neighbourhoods. A partnership with the Literacy Foundation and its "The Gift of Reading" program also made possible the distribution of over 15,000 books to children between the ages of 0 to 4 living in poverty. These initiatives provide support for the initiatives of the various groups of local organizations sponsored by Avenir d'enfants that work in the area of early childhood development.
September 17, 2013