Since 2002, the CBC has been hosting Canada Reads: a week-long, star-studded battle to find the one book that all Canadians should read. Each year, Canadians from all across the country—and listeners all over the world—are brought together by their shared interest in books and radio. Book clubs and library groups bring people together for in-person discussions about the broadcasts and their featured volumes; online, friends and strangers debate Canadian literature on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Our research looks at how Canada Reads fosters private reading and public discussions of literature. In particular, we want to know how the broadcasts shape the reading habits of Canadians and what Canadians have to say about their literary tastes. To understand the program’s impact, we are applying computational tools to analyze the data that is generated when people listen to radio, visit a public library, make a purchase at their local bookstore, or post a comment about their favourite book online.
All of this information is helping us answer questions such as:
- Who makes up the Canada Reads audience?
- Are Canadians across the country involved in the discussion, or are the conversations taking place in specific areas?
- When and how does the broadcast audience listen to the program?
- Does hearing about a book on air or online lead listeners to subsequently read the book?
- What do readers think about the books and the broadcasts that feature them?
- What are the terms of discussion about Canadian literature?
- How do broader contemporary debates about the state of Canadian literature play into how listeners respond to the broadcast?
- Do Canadians read Canadian books?
Starting with the 2015 installment of Canada Reads and working our way right up to the present day, we are drawing together everything from audience-generated data on Instagram and Goodreads, municipal library catalogue queries, broadcast ratings, book sales, and bestseller lists to trace the program’s impact. Taken together, this anonymized data provides an evolving picture of Canadian readership and Canadian Literature.
This website showcases our work in progress, which we are presenting using data visualizations and infographics. In time, the site will also feature our final reports and copies of our scholarly and general articles summing up our findings.