BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Lose weight. Quit smoking. Exercise. For over a century, public health campaigns have encouraged Canadians to adopt healthy habits in order to prolong lives, cost the state less, and produce more efficient workers. Be Wise! Be Healthy! explores the history of public health from the 1920s to the 1970s and its emphasis on health as a responsibility of citizenship. But public health campaigns can stigmatize marginalized populations by implying that poor health is due to inadequate self-care, despite clear links between health and external factors such as poverty. This clear-eyed study demonstrates that while we may well celebrate the successes of public health campaigns, they are not without controversy.
Catherine Carstairs is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Guelph. Her publications include Jailed for Possession: Illegal Drug Use, Regulation, and Power in Canada, 1920–1961 and Feminist History in Canada: New Essays on Women, Gender, Work, and Nation, edited with Nancy Janovicek.
Bethany Philpott is a family medicine resident at Queen’s University, Belleville-Quinte.
Sara Wilmshurst’s research on the Health League of Canada sparked her interest in nonprofit organizations, and she now works in fundraising.