This committee is comprised of Librarians and Library Technicians who are OLA members, work in public libraries and are committed to children’s and young adult services and eager to evaluate and promote Canadian books. We are a long standing committee with a strong voice in promoting Canadian literature for children and young adults. Our goals include highlighting excellence in the current publishing year for the OLA membership, bolstering the Canadian publishing industry, developing recognition for Canadian authors and Canadian books, and providing teachers, teacher-librarians, librarians and other interested parties with a meaningful list to assist in collection development and readers’ advisory.

Meetings are held a minimum of four times a year. Members discuss and evaluate recent publications by Canadian authors and illustrators. The books evaluated are suitable for children and young adults from birth to nineteen years old. From these discussions, the Committee produces “Best Bets” lists, annual annotated lists of recommended titles. These lists are released each year at the OLA Super Conference.

The Best Bets Committee is a wonderful opportunity to evaluate new Canadian books, network with colleagues and be an active participant in OLA