Canadian Web Startup Bursts out of Beta, Relaunches as 49th Shelf

In beta since June 2011, Canadian Bookshelf has burst out of beta. Now rebranded as 49th Shelf, this web startup wants to give Canadian books “a well-deserved boost.”

With its development team in Vancouver and its editorial team in Toronto, this thoroughly Canadian company is gaining a strong following. And with Amazon.ca as its lead sponsor this year—plus funding from the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the Department of Canadian Heritage—the book community website won’t be slowing down any time soon.

“It’s been exciting to see book fans discovering the site for themselves over the past few months,” Kerry Clare, The 49th Shelf’s editor, said of the project’s momentum, “and we’re looking forward to providing them with still more ways to engage and to find books that they’ll love.”

“If you consider how people discover books, the Internet has been a game-changer,” Beth Bruder, Project Chair, commented. “The 49th Shelf is about recognizing this and using the web to help readers discover the vast array of Canadian books—there is literally something for every kind of reader on the site.”