Congratulations to the Libris and Lifetime Achievement Award Winners!

Canadian Booksellers honour Alice Munro and Jack Rabinovitch and celebrate our book industry's best

TORONTO, June 6, 2013 /CNW/ - The excitement was high at this year's Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) and Retail Council of Canada (RCC) Libris Awards as the book industry gathered to celebrate the people who deliver great books to Canadian readers.  The 2013 CBA Libris Awards were announced on Monday June 3, at the Toronto Congress Centre, in a gala event hosted by bestselling author Terry Fallis.  The Libris Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Canadian bookselling community and honour outstanding achievement by authors and editors, sales reps and distributors, booksellers and publishers.

Will Ferguson's critically acclaimed 419 won the Fiction Book of the Year Award, and Terry Fallis was recognized as Author of the Year for his outstanding literary work and support of Canada's bookselling industry. Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian earned top honours in the Non-Fiction category.

Capturing the Small Press and Publisher of the Year were Cormorant Books and Random House of Canada, respectively.  Penguin Group Canada was named Distributor of the Year.

The Libris Award gala also celebrated the next generation of booksellers with the Chase Paymentech Young Bookseller of the Year Award, which was awarded to Michael Bumsted, Assistant from Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Eleanor Lefave, owner of Specialty Bookseller of the Year honouree Mabel's Fables (Toronto, ON) and Nancy Frater, owner of Bookseller of the Year honouree BookLore Stores (Orangeville, ON), both shared their passion for the Canadian independent bookselling community in their acceptance speeches.

The evening ended with two special Lifetime Achievement Award presentations to master storyteller and acclaimed author Alice Munro and to Jack Rabinovitch, founder of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.  Both Ms. Munro and Mr. Rabinovitch have had an enormous impact on the Canadian literary scene and continue to enrich readers through their work and their commitment to supporting and growing literary talent in Canada.  Canada's independent booksellers were proud and honoured to be able to celebrate and thank both Ms. Munro and Mr. Rabinovitch for their significant contributions to the bookselling trade.

The Complete List of Winners for this Year's Libris Awards are:
FICTION BOOK 419 by Will Ferguson (Penguin Group Canada)		SALES REP Morgen Young, Ampersand
NON-FICTION The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King (Doubleday Canada)		DISTRIBUTOR Penguin Group Canada
CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK This is Not My Hat by Author & Illustrator, Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)		SMALL PRESS Cormorant
YOUNG READER'S BOOK Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel (HarperCollins Canada)		PUBLISHER Random House of Canada
AUTHOR Terry Fallis		CAMPUS BOOKSELLER University of Toronto Bookstore (Toronto, ON)
Bookseller Of The Year: BookLore Stores (Orangeville, ON)
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients' Alice Munro and Jack Rabinovitch

 About the Canadian Booksellers Association:
Canadian Booksellers Association (CBA) is a national not-for profit trade association representing trade and campus booksellers in all provinces and territories. Membership includes Canadian bookstores of all sizes, as well as those affiliated with them-a group that includes authors, agents, sales reps, publishers, distributors and other industry suppliers. http://www.cbabook.org

Thank you to our CBA and RCC Libris Awards sponsors

       BOOKNET CANADA
CHASE Paymentech
Scotiabank
Penguin Group (Canada)
RANDOM HOUSE OF CANADA LIMITED

SOURCE: Canadian Booksellers Association

Jodi White, CBA Senior Manager Tel: [phone], ext.1 Email: [email protected]