Deborah Ellis wins the Ontario Library Association President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement

February 25, 2010 (TORONTO) — The Ontario Library Association (OLA) at the Super
Conference plenary featuring the Honourable Roméo Dallaire, is pleased to recognize author Deborah Ellis with its President's Award for Exceptional Achievement. The award was presented by OLA President Peggy Thomas earlier today at a ceremony in Toronto.

The President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement acknowledges an outstanding action or contribution that has in a major or unique way enhanced or furthered librarianship in Ontario. The selection is at the full discretion of the President of the OLA. Awards are only given if there is something of true historic significance to recognize.

Ellis has donated all royalties from The Breadwinner series to international projects for women and children, with more than a million dollars donated to Street Kids International and to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan), an organization that supports health and education projects in Afghanistan.

A statement from OLA President Peggy Thomas reads:

“Deb has been chosen for her commitment to informing, through her writing, a generation of children about the realities and experiences of children worldwide. But more significantly, she is receiving this award for also taking action on these passions and making real and meaningful contributions to our society in areas of social justice.

Her contributions to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Street Kids International have made life-altering changes in Afghanistan and in the developing world allowing for the building of women’s centres and schools as well as creating educational and work opportunities where before none had existed. Her contributions to UNICEF have funded lifesaving care for those suffering from AIDS. Her writing and her generosity are inspirational, and this award is but a small acknowledgement of all that she has done.”

CW4WAfghan makes grants from Ellis’s fund towards education projects for women and children through its longstanding relationship with partner organizations in Afghanistan that are working to improve the quality of and access to education. These projects have included women’s resource centres, a library run by young Afghan women in Kabul, a home-based literacy program in Paghman province, a girls’ high school in Ghazni Province, computer classes at a women’s shelter, literacy classes at the Centre for Street Children and Women in Kabul, a library in Herat and two small community schools in a remote area of Kabul and in Faryab Province. In addition, 10 percent of the royalties help to cover a portion of the ongoing operating and administration expenses of this uniquely Canadian volunteer organization.

More information on these projects can be found at www.cw4wafghan.ca

Deborah Ellis has achieved international acclaim with her courageous and dramatic books that give Western readers a glimpse into the lives of children in developing countries. A long-time feminist and anti-war activist, she is best known for the award-winning Breadwinner Trilogy, which has been published around the world in seventeen languages. Her next book, No Safe Place, will be published by Groundwood in September 2010. Deb lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

For more information, please contact:
Kate McQuaid
Groundwood Books
416-363-4343 x 29
kmcquaid@groundwoodbooks.com