FOCAL POINT
Summer 2001 Vol. 4 Issue 5
FOCAL POINT
Summer 2001 Vol. 4 Issue 5
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting(2000)
Saturday, June 24, 2000,
Edmonton, Alberta
Canadian Library Association Conference
4th Annual Friends' Day
Announcement - the Friends of the Year award for 2000 will be in the amount of $500 to each of the two winners for this year only. The winners were the Friends of the Atikokan Public Library and the Friends of the Ottawa Public Library. Honourable mentions were awarded to the Friends of the Huntsville Public Library and the Friends of the Saskatoon Public Library.
1. The minutes of the previous year's Annual General Meeting were adopted, moved by N. Goodman, seconded by E. Cutts.
2. There being no business arising, the reports were discussed.
President's Report - as contained in the June issue of FOCAL Point.
Vice President's Report - as contained in the June issue of FOCAL Point.
Treasurer's Report and Budget - as contained in the June issue of FOCAL Point. There being no questions or changes, the budget was adopted, moved by T. Foulkes, seconded by N. Spillios.
3. Directors' Reports - Prairies - N. Spillios, Edmonton Friends: The Winnipeg Friends now have a Friends' Café at their Centennial Library; the Saskatoon Friends have started a Reader Award Card; the Saskatoon Friends' annual ForkFest was a great success (also see reference to Honourable Mention to Saskatoon Friends above); the Edmonton Friends raised $50,000 for the Heritage Library and are putting on a Casino Night in July as a further fundraiser; Calgary and Regina have no Friends' groups as yet.
Western Canada - J. MacNeil, Vancouver Friends: Jocelyn acknowledged FOCAL's fine work in the past and expressed the admiration of her Friends' Group.
Atlantic - no report presented.
Central Canada - no report presented.
There being no further questions or comments, the reports were accepted, moved by J. Van Haaften, seconded by J. MacNeil.
4. Election of New Executive
The slate of nominees was presented, as follows:
Jami Van Haaften - President
Nancy Goodman - Vice President
Tom Foulkes - Treasurer
Heather Graham - Secretary
Carried
5. Miscellaneous
It was noted that CLA 2001 will be held in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Friends have already offered to host a Friends' Day. Letty Last will be President of their Friends' Group at that time.
CLA 2002 will be held in Halifax.
CLA and ALA are holding a Joint Session in Toronto in 2003.
Acting as Secretary
N. Goodman, 2000-07-06
Second Draft, 2000-08-08
It is hard to believe it was only a year ago we were in Edmonton. A lot of hard work has gone into the past year, and we are established in the library community as a valued conference contributor, a worthy partner to be affiliated with, and a necessary source of information relating to networking and support.
Over the past year FOCAL's membership has grown, to become more national in scope, and more renewable. This will certainly improve with the work currently being accomplished by our Development Officer Jonathan Cirelli.
Watch our website for new features. I hear Jonathan has installed a counter, so we will know how often people are visiting the site. He has also found a search tool, so visitors will be able to search the site by library name or other keyword.
His major project is a nation-wide inventory of Friends groups. A colourful map of Canada will allow you to click by province to view lists of Friends groups in your province. Contact information is also being collected.
Our three main tasks, as in the past, have been the newsletter, conference programming and the website. We look to members to fill the newsletter with news, events, advice and other commentary. Your contributions to the website also help to provide resources for the benefit of us all.
Of course, none of this could happen without our supporters. Random House of Canada, has made it possible for us to participate in major national and provincial conferences. Watters Marketing, Jim Mitchell of Packaging Alternatives, and Grolier Edu-Reference have each contributed to our status and visibility with collectable bookmarks, buttons, and bags.
Our relationship with CLA brings us back to the national scene each year. Our involvement with OLA's annual conference is so productive, I hope Friends and FOCAL can do more in other provinces to work together with our library partners.
I look forward to the coming year, and to seeing you again in Halifax.
Greetings from the 'Lethbridge Friends'.
Over the past few years we have had some very successful Book Sales. As it has expanded I have had more and more questions to deal with, mainly in regard to whom, if anyone, should be allowed an opportunity to buy books before the public sale (i.e. the evening before, when everything is set up).
I would be most grateful to receive any information from you, if you
have encountered this situation and to learn what steps have been initiated
to alleviate the problem.
Many thanks
Muriel Jolliffe
President
ballywho@telusplanet.net
In the six years that I have been associated with Friends of the Library, I've been amazed at the progress made both at local, regional and national levels.
Locally, the organization has exploded. Friends groups now seem to be the norm rather than the unusual and many libraries and their boards are discussing the formation of their new group - Guelph and East Gwillimbury boards are the latest libraries to contact me for help while Jami fields the calls from the rest of Canada.
Regional meetings are also occurring across the country - Yarmouth area Friends in Nova Scotia and a similar group out West. FOCAL certainly encourages friends to meet and work together and any group can request educational material along with buttons and bookmarks to add some spice to their event.
Friends Days at both the Ontario Library Conference and Canadian Library Convention are well received, not only by Friends, but also by trustees and library staff. I was delighted to find that at all the different sessions that I attended at OLA - marketing, building libraries, advocacy, etc., all speakers were expounding on the need for library support from a Friends Group.
With all this support and activity, there's still one question. Why have many Friends groups not joined FOCAL? As their national organization, we certainly have the ability to share our resources with them along those of Australian Library friends and those in the U.S.A. The networking that takes place at Friends Days and through our newsletter certainly creates new ideas, especially in regard to fundraising.
How does our future look? With the ongoing support of our members and sponsors and the growing reputation of friends accomplishments leads me to believe that we will constantly be moving forward strengthening our role in the library world.
Val Marshall
Past President.
Director's report, Central Canada
First it was Toronto's turn, then Kingston & eventually it became time for Ottawa & surrounding municipalities to be amalgamated. The new City of Ottawa is the largest in terms of area but since much of it is rural it is the fourth largest in population
Eight Friends or Fundraising groups from the eleven municipalities met a number of times throughout the year 2000 in an attempt to join together into one group This Amalgamation Working Group was led through an amalgamation process by Terry Sarazen from SOLS.
In spite of much time and effort and three models from which to choose amalgamation was not achieved. However, now that we have got to know each other, binding us together may be easier.
Donna Medved who represented the Friends of Nepean Public Library at the OLA Friends Day in Toronto was much inspired by the workshops she attended and the enthusiasm she met from participants.
It is encouraging to note that the Friends of the Year Award has not taken long to become popular: so many more applications have been received this year. This must mean the Friends Groups are developing more meaningful projects to support their libraries. We all eagerly await the name of the winner.
Respectfully submitted
Margaret M. Main.
| April 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001
Opening Balance.....$ 4,234.00 REVENUE Membership Dues $2,495.00
Total Revenue $3,558.00 EXPENDITURES Production/Distribution of
Total Expenditures $5,370.40 NET SURPLUS(LOSS) ($1,811.00) Closing Balance $2,422.58 NOTES:
|
Projected Budget 2001-2002
Balance forward approx. $500.00 REVENUE Membership Dues $2,500.00
Total Revenue $8,085.37 EXPENDITURES Summer student $1,220.18
FOCAL Point newsletter $1,400.00 Awards $200.00 Promotion $300.00 Administration $400.00 Conferences
TOTAL $5,380.14 |
Friends of the Library Conference Report
Conference report submitted by Joy Huebert
Volunteerism is alive and well in public libraries. On May 11 and 12, a first-ever conference was held for Friends of 18 libraries in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. The conference was conceived as a potential way to develop stronger groups by sharing information, providing training, and generating enthusiasm. In the area, Friends groups have provided considerable benefits for their affiliated libraries, and anything that can be done to strengthen further initiatives should be done!
The conference started with a Friday night dinner and keynote address by Delyse Sylvester, Director of the Selkirk College Foundation. She spoke passionately about the important role organizations such as Friends, that exist mainly to raise money, play in community development. By fostering volunteer participation in socially worthwhile endeavours, they create community and improve people's lives.
Both the giver and the receiver benefit from the fund raising process. The receiver benefits from better services, but the giver has the opportunity to make a profound difference in the lives of other people. It is our responsibility to create effective channels to allow the flow of giving and receiving to take place.
Delyse emphasized the need to make the fund raising process a personal experience for the giver. In Canada more money is given by individuals to a cause he or she passionately supports, than by any other source. Friends of Libraries should not hesitate to identify their supporters, and approach them to contribute financially to their libraries. It takes courage to ask people for money face-to-face, but it is the most effective method of raising funds, and can provide great joy for the giver who sees the happiness that is brought to others by his or her donation.
We all ended the dinner feeling well-fed and informed.
The next day, there were four sessions:
We were informed, inspired and networked. We hope this event will lay the groundwork for a Provincial conference that will continue to lead our Friends groups forward in supporting public libraries.
Northern Ontario Friends planning a fall conference
A recent Ontario-Library Service North conference in Sudbury generated a lot of interest in having a Friends' Day of our own. Many library delegates visiting by the FOCAL booth in the exhibit hall indicated that they had an active Friends group, and that a northern gathering would be well attended.
The idea sprang from an almost chance meeting between Lloyd Campbell of the Sault Friends, and myself, on a recent visit to the Sault Ste. Marie, my hometown. Lloyd gave me a guided tour of his extensive bookstore operation, and described the operation of their café. We had a brainstorming session, which included the need to network among libraries in the North.
The idea seemed to catch on at the OLS-North conference. Happily the Sault Library's CEO Willy Eisenbichler carried the idea back to the Friends group, and later confirmed that at their monthly meeting the Friends had endorsed the idea to host the event.
We are looking at September 15th or 22nd, and expect it to be an International Friends' Day, with delegates invited from Northern Michigan. OLS-North CEO Leanne Clendening has offered the support of OLS-North and will handle registration for us, as well as contribute to the program by providing a speaker, and helping to broadcast news of the event through the OLS-North listserv.
The Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library recently learned that they are the winners of this year's Stan Heath Achievement in Literacy Award, one of CLTA's awards. The award recognised the library's Adopt a Library Literacy campaign. The RCMP officer who initiated the program, Constable John Kennedy, may be travelling to Winnipeg to receive the award on behalf of the library at the CLTA lunch on Saturday. (http://www.parl.ns.ca/adoptalibrary/).
Find out more about Internet summer school offered by Ken Wyman, via the Internet. This six week course covers all the ups and downs of running nonprofit events and begins June 18th The course is specially priced at $65. You can find more information about this and other courses at www.GreenAbility.org. You'll also find a complete copy of Ken Wyman's book "Guide to Special Events Fundraising" available to download FREE! Contact Ken Wyman at KenWyman@CompuServe.com.
Friends in Action - Nova Scotia
(Source: Paulette Sweeney)
· Recently the Shelburne Friends of the Library purchased $379
(US) in reference materials and they also purchased a shelving unit for
teen books valued at $800 Cdn. On June 16th the group will be holding a
yard sale at the library.
· Weymouth Friends will be hosting their annual youth dance
on Fri. Jun 15 at the local firehall.
· Pubnico Friends have just staged their second successful play
at the Argyle school. Dreadful Doings at the Cider Mill . Since the conclusion
of the play the Friends have made a rock garden in front of the library
and they are also installing a wrought iron fence and railing.
· Clark's Harbour Friends hosted their second annual Mother's
Day tea at the library and plans are well underway for their very popular
'Dutch Auction'. All Friends groups have pledged their support with the
first Library Lotto (June 15 - Sept 7).
We submitted a grant application to the Young Canada Works in Heritage Institutions, for funds to hire a summer student. Much to our delight we received notification in May from the Canadian Library Association that our submission was accepted. The grant will cover 70% of the cost of our summer student's salary, over a 12-week period.
The FOCAL Development Officer position is intended to provide administrative support and developmental guidance. The student will support the daily operations of the association as they relate to membership development, communication and web design. In addition special projects such as the production of a membership kit and the introduction of French content to the web site will be undertaken.
· Membership
· Newsletter
· Web site maintenance/web design
The successful candidate for this position is Jonathan Cirelli, a 16-year-old high school student in Sudbury, Ontario. Jonathan brings to the position advanced computer skills, and experience in computer graphics and web design
In an effort to gather information about Friends groups and to add content to the FOCAL web site, the following documents are requested:
· Friends constitutions & by-laws
· Friends annual reports/budgets
· Program brochures
· Newsletters - computer file or paper copy
We also want to know your website address.
Please supply as much material as you can over the summer months, so that the Development Officer can add to our website.
Mail files to focal@accessola.com. Please note we are unable to open Microsoft Publisher files, and have difficulty with WordPerfect. Microsoft Word or ASCII text is preferred
A valuable book fair tip from Brampton
How do you host an effortless but successful book fair? Brampton used the services of Professional Book Fairs Ltd., and hosted two book fair characterized by no effort on the part of the Friends, and revenue of well over $2,000.
The sale consisted of new books, repro. art, toys and gifts. The sale was set up, with no work on the part of the Friends, in the Brampton Civic Centre. The space and tables were provided by the municipality..
The sale was timed to coincide with a theatrical production happening elsewhere in the Civic Centre complex. Friends entertainment coupon books and Kids Count Too! coupon books were sold at this event, for an additional $254 in earnings.
They have two sales per year, this one at the end of October/early November, and the second, traditionally at the end of January/early February. Their combined profit for 2000 was $2423. In 1999 it was $1888. Sales began in 1997 and profits have increased every year.
Report provided by
Elaine Graham, Community Services Officer
Brampton Public Library
905-793-4636 ext. 4320
E-mail to: egraham@bramlib.on.ca
PROFESSIONAL BOOK FAIRS LTD
7956 TORBRAM
BRAMPTON, ON L6T 5A2
(905)791-1133
Friends groups who have registered with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency for a Charitable number can recover half the G.S.T. they pay during the year.
Simply call this number - 1-800-959-2221and ask for a form. You can total the G.S.T. paid by your charitable organization, and send in a form for a rebate of half the amount. You do not have to submit receipts, but should be able to supply if asked.
It gets even better. If you have never done this, you can submit for up to four year's worth of GS.T. rebates!
Article IV Amendments
The constitution and by-laws may be amended 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.
The following provides the current text, followed by the proposed amendment, with changes in bold italics.
Constitution Article III
Governance
3. Five Directors are to be elected from Friends groups. The preference would be for 1 director from the Prairies, 1 from Atlantic Canada, 1 from British Columbia and 2 from Central Canada
In order to clarify regional categories:
3. Five Directors are to be elected from Friends groups. The preference
would be for 1 director from the Prairies (North West Territories, Yukon,
Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba), 1 from Atlantic Canada (east
of Quebec), 1 from British Columbia and 2 from Central Canada (Ontario
and Quebec).
2) Signing Officers
By-laws ARTICLE IV
CONTRACTS, CHEQUES, DEPOSITS AND FUNDS
2. 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 both the President and the Treasurer.
Addition of signing officer, in order to allow payment transactions
in the absence of either the Treasurer or the President:
2 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 both the President and the Treasurer, or in the absence
of either, the Vice-President.
