Under the Reading Tree is run and supported by a volunteer board made up of people who share a passion for reading, community and imagination. We have all been blessed with plenty of books, and have banded together to share that blessing in places where access to books is a rare and welcome gift.
Jocelyn Preece
Jocelyn’s passion for community libraries in East Africa arose from an internship with the Uganda Community Libraries Association. Inspired by the librarians and rural communities she worked with, Jocelyn returned to Canada to pursue a Masters in Library and Information Studies. She now works for the Ottawa Public Library.
Jocelyn’s dream is to continue to work with libraries in East Africa throughout her career. She would particularly love to set up partnerships between libraries in Canada and libraries internationally.
Sterling Doucette
Sterling is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant with extensive experience with not-for-profit and charitable organizations. He also has a degree in Business from Carleton University.
Sterling is interested in literacy, financial literacy, and mathematical literacy issues and advocacy. He previously served on the Board of the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library and volunteered at ALSO (Alternative Learning Styles and Outlooks).
Hani Osman
Hani is currently majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University. She is set to graduate in 2016, and hopes to major in Law and minor in Human Rights. She intends to use her degree in the international field, and apply her knowledge in the international sector of law and criminal justice.
Hani is a passionate advocate for free and accessible education, social justice and women’s rights. Feeling like her daily routines were often limiting and not fully enhancing her potential, she has devoted herself to volunteering
Espen Stranger-Johannessen
Espen Stranger-Johannessen is a PhD student in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at the University of British Columbia. He is currently in Uganda, researching the African Storybook Project, a digital and local language library project which partners with community libraries in Uganda.
Espen’s Masters thesis fieldwork was conducted at UTRT’s Caezaria Community Library, and focused on the relationship of community libraries to schools.
Cameron Montgomery
Cameron is a part-time professor at Algonquin College in the Faculty of Health, Public Safety and Community Studies. She is also a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa and the editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Journal of Religion.
Cameron considers herself an artist and an activist and strives to spend her time doing things which work toward a more socially just world.
Under the Reading Tree 