The Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) is excited to bring you Canada’s largest bilingual book club. Throughout April, public libraries across the country will participate in One eRead / Un livrel Canada, during which thousands of readers will borrow digital copies of Chris Bergeron’s novel Valid from their public libraries with no waitlists. We are excited to be working on this initiative with the publishers, Les Éditions XYZ Inc. and House of Anansi.
This April, Canadians are invited to join people from across the country in reading Valid by Chris Bergeron for One eRead Canada.
One eRead / Un livrel highlights the benefit of open access to digital books. CULC reports that restrictive costs, licensing, and availability of content prevent public libraries from providing adequate access to the volume and variety of digital titles Canadians want to read. The high cost of digital content alone prevents libraries from diversifying their collections, meaning many authors and books are underrepresented and underexposed to Canadian readers. One eRead / Un livrel demonstrates that when restrictions on access are reduced, readership goes up.
About Valid
Set in a disturbingly transfigured Montreal in the year 2050, Valid is a monologue delivered over the span of eight hours by Christelle, a seventy-year-old trans woman forced to live as a man in order to survive. Speaking to her captor, an ever–more powerful AI, she turns the tables and mounts her own revolution by showing her truest self. Part autofiction, part dystopic speculation on an all-too-possible future characterized by corporate power, ecological collapse, and political havoc, Valid is an ambitious work that is as much philosophical as it is confessional.
About Chris Bergeron
Chris Bergeron is diverse and fluid: after beginning a career in journalism and eventually winding up at the helm of the weekly cultural magazine Voir, she now dedicates her artistic vitality to Cossette, a leading global marketing agency.
She offers speaking engagements on leadership, diversity, inclusion, and trans rights.
Chris lives in Montreal.
Read with Halifax Public Libraries
April 1 through 30, 2025, you'll be able to download Valid as an e-book with no holds, no waitlists, via:
Join the Conversation
While reading the book, people are encouraged to join the online discussion happening with readers from across the country on the One eRead Canada Facebook page.
There will also be two online events scheduled during the month: Stay tuned for links and info!
About One eRead/Un Livrel Canada
Launched in 2019, One eRead Canada is an annual initiative by the Canadian Urban Libraries Council to promote digital reading through public libraries, while also raising awareness about issues that libraries face in providing access to e-books and audiobooks.
Read more: Canada’s Public Libraries Call for Fair Digital Pricing with a National eBook Club
About Canadian Urban Libraries Council (CULC) / Conseil des Bibliothèques Urbaines du Canada (CBUC)
The Canadian Urban Libraries Council was formed in 2008, formalizing groups whom had met for more than 25 years to better library service in Canada’s populated urban areas. CULC has members from the 51 largest public library systems in Canada, along with Library and Archives Canada and the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. CULC’s mission is to facilitate advocacy, collaboration, and research that strengthens and promotes the value of Canada’s urban libraries as integral to a vibrant democracy, a strong economy, and thriving communities. More than 75% of all Canadians are served by a CULC member library, whose activities comprise more than 80% of Canada’s public library total.
