Fall 2001 Vol. 5 Issue 1
Fall 2001 Vol. 5 Issue 1
Once again we had a Friends' Day program rich in local hospitality and expertise. Congratulations and heart-felt thanks go to Rochelle Blumenthal, Chair of the Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library, and her host committee.
The next two issues of FOCAL Point will contain reports from the sessions. Rochelle selected speakers who beautifully complemented each other on the three major aspects of Friends' work - advocacy, fundraising and volunteerism. To do justice to all three presentation, highlights will be spread out over the next two issues, and added to the website as time permits.
Michael Colborne offered a fourth speaker in a last minute addition to our program. We were truly delighted and impressed by our surprise guest, and regretted having to limit him to only 15 minutes. However Constable Kennedy delivered his message, carried home CLA's Stan Heath Literacy Award, and enlisted FOCAL's support in promoting the Adopt a Library Literacy Program. (see page 2).
- Be vigilant. Threats can appear at any time.
- Enjoy the benefits of building a coalition.
- Children can be eloquent speakers, and they are entitled to be heard.
- Build a reputation for credibility. Do your research. Be accurate.
- Be vocal in good times as well as bad. Trumpet your value.
- Start with a legislator you know and keep in touch.
- Stick to the issue.
- Do you homework.
- Get to know library staff.
- Work in all legislative levels - federal, provincial and municipal.
- Be personal. Use charm to help make your case.
- Seal the deal. Know what you want and ask for a commitment.
- Don't be misinformed. If you don't know, find out.
- Support and gain the confidence of the CEO.
- Use media coverage to reveal politicians' bias, and work on the people
not on your side
- Find advocacy partners. Use the phone book, newspaper clippings,
networks and e-mail
Please turn to page 3 for a full report of this session.
Random House of Canada Friends of the Year Award
Random House of Canada
Friend of the Year Award Winner
Friends of the London Public Library
Honourable Mention
Friends of the Ajax Public Library
Friends of the Lindsay Public Library
Friends of the Oshawa Public Library
The Random House Friends of the Year Award
The presentation was a special moment during our Friends' Day at CLA. Lahring Tribe reaffirmed the special commitment and support Random House of Canada offers to FOCAL, both through this award and through sponsorship of our conference programs.
Award judges Michael Colborne, Nicholas Spillios and Jami van Haaften had a difficult task in choosing a winner from nine submissions. As Michael noted, "It was interesting to see the reports of such good work across the country. People are certainly bringing a high level of creativity and energy to their support of public libraries. It's almost a shame to have to pick a winner!"
The overall winner was the Friends of the London Public Library, represented at CLA by President Hilary Neary. For full details of this year's top award submissions and the full text of Hilary's acceptance speech please check the 2001 Award links from our website. She said, in part:
I am very happy to be here today, surrounded by friends of Canadian libraries. Collectively we represent many thousands who believe that libraries are essential civic services, and who support that belief with energy, resources, influence and great spirit.
"From the Friends of the London Public Library who number close to 400, I bring both greetings and heartfelt thanks. We are deeply grateful to receive this award. On their behalf I thank the Friends of Canadian Libraries for their fine work in encouraging the formation of friends’ groups, supporting us with membership services, coordinating information about our progress, and providing learning experiences like this day at CLA.
We also recognize the fine effort that the Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library have done in hosting today’s events. On behalf of the Friends of the London Public Library I want to recognize Random House of Canada’s sponsorship of this Friend of the Year Award. We F/friends are great promoters of literacy, learning and literature, and it is fitting that so prominent a Canadian publisher recognizes our efforts to support our libraries.
As President of London’s Friends I want to acknowledge some people closer to home who support and encourage our activities. The CEO of LPL, Darrel Skidmore, who is here today, is one of our biggest fans, and we deeply appreciate his counsel and support. The Library’s Board of trustees value our contributions and follow our plans with interest. The library staff in all sixteen branches are a joy to “work” with when we undertake joint ventures.
In particular I want to recognize the work of Carmen Sprovieri, Director of Community Outreach, a very wise Friend indeed! As president I am fortunate to work with a fine executive team, and we are supported by a membership who relish engagement in our activities and are generous with advice, ideas and resources."
London Public Library's CEO Darrel Skidmore was also present at our luncheon, and took the opportunity to offer some words of praise of his own. He spoke at times both for himself and on behalf of his colleagues in saying libraries are huge benefactors of what Friends do." We could not survive, we'd die on the vine, if we had to pay in salary what you accomplish," he praised. He ended in telling us how proud he was of Hilary and all that she has accomplished.
Friends receiving Honourable Mention certificates included Friends of the Ajax Public Library for their Million Dollar Building Block Campaign. Friends of the Lindsay Public Library for their "One Year in the Life of the Friends" submission, and Friends of the Oshawa Public Library for their successful committee-based approach to advocacy, support and fundraising.
Full details are found on our website at http://www.friendsoflibraries.ca/award/2001award.htm
Friends day @ OLA 2002 -Online registration form
Let's learn from each other and share good ideas that worked, and gather some innovative ideas to try in our own communities. We plan two interactive sessions where we want to hear from you!
Two topics will be covered during the Ontario Library Association Friends' Day -
Membership:
- getting
- keeping
- training
- motivating
- executive recruitment
- initiating a Friends group
Fundraising
- book sales / book stores
- gift shops / merchandise
- special events
- raffles
Please e-mail your "best practice" and help us build a document to be launched at OLA, and available thereafter to members and libraries, either in print or on the website.
Other topics, in addition to those relating to membership and fundraising
include:
- Advocacy
- Capital Campaigns
- Events
- Programs
- Publicity & promotion
- Services
- Volunteerism
Some ideas have already been lifted from submissions for our Friend of the Year Award and from newsletters you have provided over the years.
I have a deadline of Jan. 15, 2002, to give us time to compile. Thanks to Nancy Williams of Oakville who volunteered to assist in formatting and proofreading.
Thanks also to our willing session leaders Hilary Neary (London) and
Marjorie Hodges (Oshawa). Don't be surprised if they contact you for your
ideas!
Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program
One of the memorable moments from Friends' Day at CLA was Michael Colborne's last-minute addition to our program - the winner of CLA's Stan Heath Literacy Award. Constable John Kennedy gave us a 15-minute inspirational presentation.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have partnered with Scholastic Canada Ltd. in a new Literacy Initiative. This Program entitled "The Adopt a Library Literacy Program" is geared towards children of all ages. Through networking with sponsors, items are obtained at no charge to the libraries. These items will then be used to encourage children to visit their local libraries and to sign out books to read. These items include prizes to be used for reading competitions, books so that the children have a wide variety of reading materials, as well as puppet stages, craft supplies.
In addition partnerships with sponsors has enabled the libraries to support children's summer reading programs, purchase furniture to make the children's areas more comfortable, and much more.
Friends groups can help to initiate this program by proposing and encouraging a partnership between your library, your local RCMP and other municipal police forces. The library and the policing agency join by filling in an online registration form. The program is described on the Internet at: http://www.parl.ns.ca/adoptalibrary/
FOCAL members can help to spread the benefits of this national program across Canada, by sharing with our library community the opportunities this program offers. Follow this link from our home page, and find out more about this program. Request sets of brochures from focal@accessola.com.
Receive FOCAL Point by e-mail - a new member benefit that speeds delivery of our quarterly newsletter, and helps to broaden our distribution network.
Request e-mail version by writing focal@accessola.com.
If you want to learn about library advocacy, who better to learn it from than Jan Dalmyn, former Chair of the Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library. Her entry into library advocacy began, as she says "innocently enough", as a School Council member attending a meeting to try and save the community's branch library.
"Little did I know that I had launched the next 6 years of my life!" she said, by way of an introduction.
Through her initial efforts to save that branch, and bring together other advocates to save all six branches up for closure, the group formed in 1993 and became known as READ (Residents for the Enhancement and Development of Libraries). Later that year they were invited to merge with the Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library, which dated from 1991. The Friends also had a history of enhancing community awareness and use of libraries, were involved in the 1992 municipal election and made budget presentations during 1993.
Jan made budget presentations to Council on behalf of the Friends in 1994 and 1995, which resulted in a "status quo" situation except for a drop in materials acquisition budgets. Jan was invited to plan the agenda and invitees to a "Mayor's Round Table on Libraries". That year she also started writing a column for Quill and Quire, and presented at the provincial library conference.
That same year a leaked document revealed 7 branches were under threat of space reductions. Jan toured all seven facilities, spoke with staff, provided information to alerted media, and attended community meetings. A set of recommendations, unanimously adopted by Council, called for increased staffing and materials budgets, planned public consultation, and no further reductions without the recommended enhancements.
They continued to be involved in municipal politics during the election with took place within weeks of that vote, and followed with opposition to a budget proposal to allow a $5.00 library membership card fee. Jan organized a delegation to the Minister in the Department of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship, and received assurance the government had no intention of reversing an earlier 1993 position opposing the fee.
Jan provided samples of newspaper reports during this period. The headlines were electric - "War over libraries heats up", "Library cuts plan ripped", "Library cost-cutting plan devastating - activists", "Library preservation a key issue", and "Mayoral rivals pledge more for libraries".
The public consultation process recommended in 1995 resulted in "The Forward Thinking Review Process", which was a major review of the library situation from March to July of 1996. The group met weekly, conducted polls and focus groups, collected data, and made recommendations which were mainly accepted by City Council, and implemented through the 1997 budget process.
In 1998 Jan organized the "Advocates for a Free Public Library", which
included the Friends, to once again oppose introduction of a library user
fee. The Library hosted a public debate, where the Library Board spoke
in favour of the proposed fee, and the Advocates and the Manitoba Library
Association spoke against. The media reported those who opposed the fee
won the debate, and the provincial government stated they would not entertain
a request from the city to allow the fees.
How is this for an anonymous donor? “We’ve just received our fourth large gift from an anonymous donor”, said Winnipeg Library Foundation co-chair Abe Anhang. The donor, a physician, has challenged the medical profession to match the gift. “I’m pledging to match every dollar donated by one of my fellow doctors, up to a total of $25,000.” Anhang noted that the challenge effectively doubles every dollar donated by a doctor. (Todd Pennell, Executive Director, Winnipeg Library Foundation, Inc.)
Uxbridge is definitely going ahead with a Friends group. CEO Stephen Whelan is working this fall with a Board member in setting it up. Geoff Nie (Ajax) has been a great source of information and is very enthusiastic about his own group, Stephen reports. (Stephen Whelan, Chief Librarian, Uxbridge Township Public Library
CLA announced two recipients for this year's William C. Watkinson Award, Jeffrey Simpson and Doug Hull.
Simpson, a well-known author, commentator and national affairs columnist for the Globe and Mail was a member of the Ottawa Public Library Board for the last 4 years 1997-2001. He was described as "persistent and relentless in championing" for a new Main Library for the City of Ottawa, and has leadership and vision.
Doug Hull is with Industry Canada, and is an advocate of connectivity initiatives, local coordinator of a pilot Urban CAP project, Past President of CAPL, member of Blue Ribbon Panel on Smart Communities and member of the National Broadband Task Force. He is well known for his work with and for libraries in the federal government's Connecting Canadians agenda.
The Government of Canada Department of Canadian Heritage will invest
$80 million over three years in Cultural Spaces Canada, a program to improve
Canada's cultural infrastructure. The Department is now accepting applications
for cultural infrastructure projects taking place this federal fiscal year
which ends on March 31, 2002. Applications received after October 31 may
not be considered for funding until the following fiscal year. Funding
includes from 33 - 50% to cover construction, renovation, equipment and
feasibility study costs. For more information visit: http://www.pch.gc.ca/arts/arts_pol/cultspaces_e.htm
(Rob Lavery, Resource Development Consultant Southern Ontario Library
Service)
Go back to school from home, and take on online course from Ken Wyman. "Volunteer management for fundraising" focuses on board members and other fundraising volunteers. Fees for the program are only $65 per participant (regularly $135), thanks to a grant from Volunteer @ction Online. For more information please visit www.greenability.org. (Ken Wyman)
Georgian College also offers Online Fundraising & Resource Development Program Courses. In September four courses are offered: Intro to Philanthropy, Planning for Fundraising, Grant & Proposal Writing and Planned Giving. In January, two additional courses are Major Gifts and Planned Giving. Registration is $245, and complete information is found online at http://www.georgianc.on.ca/fundraising/online.htm.
Val Marshall recently conducted a 1/2 day Advocacy Workshop for the Board , staff, and Friends of the Brockville Public Library. They are to be congratulated on starting a new Friends Group. Val notes they have a lovely Carnegie Library, recently renovated and extended without loosing any of it's original charm. She praises CEO Margaret Williams, their great Board and clever staff who are doing all the right things!
The Library Quilt idea originating from Ajax has moved east! Paulette Sweeney (Western Counties Regional Library) reports the library quilt idea will be used for a fundraiser this year. The quilt is being designed like a bookshelf, complete with knick knacks which will reflect the area. A local radio station wants to be included (perhaps a radio on the shelf tuned to CJLS with the letters embroidered on the radio). In exchange, they will 'talk up' the fundraiser on air.
Our new logo is launched with this issue, and with recent updates this summer to our website. We will be using this logo in all our promotional material, letterhead and web pages
We obtained generous permission from Sandy Dolnick, Executive Director of Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA), to copy their logo and adapt for our needs.
Please look to see what you can offer FOCAL, as we move ahead into the latter half of our first decade:
Volunteers to serve as:
- Vice President
- Director - Central Canada (2nd representative)
- Director - Northern Territories
Newsletter
- Proofreader - newsletter
- Regional contributors - newsletter
Best Practices / Innovative Ideas
Contribute to a document due to be launched at the OLA conference, and distributed to members afterwards. Tell us your success stories and share the wealth of your experience. (Mail to focal@accessola.com)
Provide your documents
- Friends constitutions & by-laws
- Friends annual reports/budgets
- Program brochures
- Newsletters - computer file or paper copy
- your website address
Mail files to focal@accessola.com. Please note, Microsoft Word or ASCII text is preferred. We are unable to open Microsoft Publisher files.
Conference exhibit volunteers
- OLA, Toronto, Feb. 2, 2002
Serve in other capacities to greet people at the door to our meeting
rooms, distribute session handouts, pour water for speakers, collect lunch
tickets, etc. We would really appreciate your help.
Through the use of a Young Canada Works in Heritage Institutions grant, we were able to hire a summer student this year. We hired Jonathan Cirelli as our Development Officer, and turned him loose on our website, membership database and administrative chores related to newsletter production and distribution, and new member kits.
Through the use of e-mail Jonathan had a fairly quick accomplishment in the creation of a map of Canada with links to Friends groups sort by province.
Visit our website to view a full colour version of this map, and check out the provincial lists of over 170 Friends groups. Help us to keep this inventory current and complete, by sending us information you have on Friends groups in your area.
Search tool - One of the great new features of our website is our search tool, to help you search newsletter archives and other web documents for a particular piece of information.
Website
- Redesign home page
- Add map of Canada
- Create inventory of Friends, by province
- Add counter
- Add search tool
- Check and correct links
- Add documents to member's documents
- Create Adopt a Library literacy link to home page
- Add speech to Award 2001 website
- Add Packaging Alternative order form to website
Graphic design / brochure
- Logo design
- Letterhead design
- Brochure - draft layout and design
- Modify map to remove background, numbers and legend and edit colour
for use as black and white image for other publications
Newsletter
- Move January newsletter to website archive
- Format Spring newsletter in html format for website
- Format Summer spring newsletter in html format for website
- Send summer newsletter
- First draft of fall newsletter and additional text to layout
- Archive older issues - create html files of selected text
- Prepare envelopes for sending of fall newsletter
Administrative support
- Type travel policy
- Use Friends of the Year submissions for good ideas and best practices
- Use binder of newsletters and type more good ideas/best practices
- Best practices document for document for OLA
- Prepare new member kit packages
- E-mail non-members with membership form and summer newsletter html
file
Advice column
Book Sales and Early Entry
A question was posted to the Ontario Public Library Association listserv, and with Patricia's permission I have placed the question in our newsletter, as well as on the Friends' listserv. The answers were varied and at times emphatic! If you have additional comments to make on this or any other Q & A topic, please e-mail or write to FOCAL's President:
Question;
Has anyone charged a fee for early entry to their booksale? How much
did you charge and was it successful? We are thinking of charging a small
fee for entry to the first few hours of our annual booksale held every
fall. Your advice would be appreciated.
Patricia Redhead, Deputy Chief Librarian
Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library
predhead@owensound.library.on.ca
Replies:
We haven't done that but may think about it - will be interested to see if anyone else does. (C. Aiken, Thunder Bay)
New Question: One individual describes a situation is characterized by in-fighting within the Friends group, to the point where anger has been directed at Library Board members, some library staff and the CEO. Is there a mission or vision statement or mandate, which could be used by the Friends to become more cohesive? Can a library Board member or staff member maintain a supportive role in this situation without appearing to interfere?
If anyone can offer advice or guidance in this situation described,
please forward to me and I will share with the concerned individual and
in our next newsletter. If you prefer, your reply can also be confidential,
or your personal experience can be described in generic terms, as was the
question.
(Reply to Jami van Haaften -
focal@accessola.com)
FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY/MISSISSAUGA 101
A memo was circulated this spring concerning the Friends of the Library, Mississauga. It was a lovely testimonial to the value of these Friends to their library. The full document is found on our website at http://www.friendsoflibraries.ca/mississauga.doc.
Sometimes we take our friends for granted. This is an opportunity to look at how the Friends have multiplied the community’s support of the Library. This is an opportunity to think about how Friends made a difference.
The Friends donated $1 million dollars (money and in kind) to the Library in 2000.
Membership - The Friends are the largest group in the country boasting
1798 members. Mississauga is the only library with a Junior
Friends group boasting 478 children ranging in age from 3 years to 14 years.
Volunteer hours donated in total 25,000 hours/year or over 35 FTEs.
Trust Fund was established 12 years ago and now stands at $200,000.
These monies have been set aside as a reserve to support library services
for future generations.
The Pros and Cons of Establishing a Friends Group
This group considered the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a Friends group.
In the opinion of this group, the benefits of starting a Friends group far outweighed the drawbacks. Benefits to the library of a Friends group included:
- Fundraising
- Advocacy
- Raising community awareness of the library and its services
- Public relations activities of Friends groups reach out to various
elements of the community including the business and education sectors,
community and multicultural groups
- Friends can expand library products and services
- Friends can recycle books through books sales and used bookstores
- Friends can do and say things that the library cannot
- Friends are not perceived as having the same vested interests as
library staff
- Friends can carry out a capital fundraising campaign to build a new
library
- Friends can apply for lottery licensing and grants
- Friends can develop a variety of programs, including literacy training
- Friends can encourage literary excitement and the development of
young people
Drawbacks to establishing a Friends group included:
- Conflict with the philosophy or direction of library management
- Volunteerism may be in conflict with union agreement
- If the CEO does not want a Friends group, the library will not get
a Friends group
- Establishing a Friends group is time-consuming: it takes work and
support
- Volunteer infighting can be a problem
The group pointed out that the Friends group can be structured to avoid such problems. The group should not be formed in isolation from library management. There should be a built in liaison between the Friends group and library management. This might take the form of an ex-officio, non-voting seat for the CEO on the Friend’s executive. Open communication and harmonization should exist between the Friend’s executive and the library management.
Prepared by Terry Sarazen, SOLS.
All books for Children - Books for
Kids Foundation
All Books for Children, a book drive initiated by Starbucks Coffee Company, is described on this Books for Kids Foundation website: http://www.booksforkidsfoundation.org/
Ken Wyman reports Canadian libraries, schools and literacy groups received
gently used books, including Frontier College, the London Public Library,
the Hamilton Public Library, The Child's Place in Windsor, and Kitchener-Waterloo's
Project READ.
According to Article IV of our by-laws changes to the constitution and by-laws may be made at an annual general meeting, following at least 60 days notice in writing of such proposed changes to all members, and the approval to the changes by the majority of the members at the AGM.
Two changes were proposed in the Spring (April) newsletter and discussed by the membership during the Annual General Meeting in June. In addition a policy question was raised, and will be researched.
First change:
Constitution Article III Governance
3. Six Directors are to be elected from Friends groups. The preference would be for 1 director each from British Columbia, the Prairies (Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba), the Northern Territories (North West Territories, Yukon, Nunavut), 1 from Atlantic Canada (east of Quebec), and 2 from Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec).
During the meeting, as an interim measure pending membership from northern territories, it was decided we would ask Nicholas Spillios to cover the Northern Territories, and that we would vote again next year on the Regional Directors governance question.
Nicholas has accepted this extra assignment. We also credit Nicholas, by the way, for the recruitment of our new Director from British Columbia, Jocelyn MacNeil.
Second change:
By-laws ARTICLE IV
CONTRACTS, CHEQUES, DEPOSITS AND FUNDS
2. Signing Officers
All cheques, drafts, or other orders for the payment of money, notes,
or other evidence of indebtedness, issued in the name of the association
shall be authorized by the president of the association; and, must bear
the signature of any two members of the executive.
Travel policy - will be circulated to members for discussion. The President was authorized to contact other library associations and collect sample policies. A revised policy will be distributed prior to the 2002 AGM for subsequent approval at that AGM.
PRESIDENT - Jami van Haaften
Friends of the Sudbury Public Library
1826 Marie Ave., Sudbury, Ont. P3E 2X9.
Telephone: 705-523-3415
E-mail focal@accessola.com
VICE-PRESIDENT - Seeking Volunteer
PAST-PRESIDENT - Val Marshall
Ajax Friends of the Library
E-mail: val.marshall@sympatico.ca
SECRETARY - Heather Graham
Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library
E-mail: hfgraham@home.com
TREASURER - Val Marshall
Ajax Friends of the Library
E-mail: val.marshall@sympatico.ca
DIRECTORS
BRITISH COLUMBIA -
Jocelyn MacNeil
E-mail: macniel@dowco.com
PRAIRIES/TERRITORIES - Nicholas Spillios
Friends of the Edmonton Public Library
E-mail: nikos@telusplanet.net
CENTRAL CANADA - Margaret Main
Friends of the Nepean Public Library
E-mail: mainm@achilles.net
ATLANTIC CANADA - Bryon Merrett
Friends of the Yarmouth Public Library
E-mail: yarmouthfriends@hotmail.com
Canadian Library Trustees Association
Michael Weidlich
100 Street Grande Prairie, T8V 2J9
E-mail: weidlich@telusplanet.net
Canadian Association of Public Libraries
Sylvia Teasdale
E-mail: Sylvia.Teasdale@library.ottawa.on.ca
Canadian Library Association
Michael Colborne
E-mail: COLBORMB@gov.ns.ca
Consultant
Terry Sarazen
Email: tsarazen@sols.org