INUVIK - Inuvik's Youth Centre had its share of celebrity guests on March 7, as two former NHL players and a successful novelist came to talk about reading.

NHL Hall of Fame superstar Bryan Trottier was among those visiting, and signed autographs amid an excited group of young fans.

Being a celebrity at Inuvik's Youth Centre can mean lots of autograph requests. On March 7. When Bryan Trottier and friends visited as part of a literacy tour, he signed hats and books for kids like Damian Kayotuk, 10, and Hugh Angasuk, 7. - Philippe Morin/NNSL photo

Former NHL player Al Conroy and Canadian sports novelist Sigmund Brouwer accompanied him.

John McMullen, who is chairman of Alberta's Literacy for Life foundation, said this was the group's second tour of the North.

Having been to several NWT communities in a similar tour last year, he said the group visited Norman Wells, Great Bear Lake, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk this time around.

"This is about encouraging young people to make positive choices," McMullen said.

Tuktoyaktuk's Mangilaluk school principal Roman Mahnic said he was looking forward to the visit.

Brouwer talked about literacy in the school's newly renovated library, while Conroy and Trottier slapped a few hockey pucks on the community's rink afterwards.

Brouwer said the tour was an attempt to make reading exciting. "It's an unusual place for a book signing, but a good one," he laughed, as Inuvik kids held out copies of his novels to be autographed.

The Literacy for Life program has been active in Alberta for several years, and is now branching into the North.

It was funded by local sponsors and Schlumberger Canada Limited, which is an Alberta oil and gas project management company.