National Library News

October 1995, vol. 27, no. 10

Annual General Meeting of Friends of the National Library

The Friends of the National Library of Canada held their fourth annual general meeting at the Library on June 5. In reviewing the year's activities, President Grete Hale pointed to such highlights as the tea held to celebrate the ninetieth birthday of Canada's first woman M.P., Ellen Fairclough; and the Friends' first literary bus tour of Ottawa, so called because readings were given while the group rode a double-decker bus to visit various city landmarks featured in the works of authors such as Samuel de Champlain, Brian Doyle, Lady Aberdeen, Sandra Gwyn, Elizabeth Smart, Carol Shields, Charles Ritchie, Rupert Brooke, Agatha Christie, Jane Urquhart and others.

During the year, Friends volunteered close to 3 000 hours of their time in supporting the National Library. They were involved in 33 National Library events, of which the most important were the Governor General's Literary Awards Winners Gala Reading and the National Library Lecture, this year given by internationally acclaimed Acadian author Antonine Maillet. The Friends sponsored both events. During the summer, Friends again ran the National Library gift boutique, selling a supply of T-shirts, CDs and exhibition souvenirs, and gave tours of the Library.

Another major part of the Friends' work is to support the Library's Canadiana collections through donations in cash and kind. This year, $5 000.00 will be donated to the Library for purchasing a collection of musical Canadiana and $5 000.00 and for acquiring four rare books: Jeremy Belknap's The Foresters (Boston, 1792), Peter Kalm's Bekrifning hurn Socker gores uti Norra America (Uppsala, 1751), and two acts passed by the government of Great Britain, published in London in 1657 and 1712. Friends also donated more than 100 volumes to the Library.

Now numbering well over 500 members, the Friends of the National Library continue to provide much-appreciated support for the Library. For more information, contact:

Friends of the National Library of Canada
National Library of Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0N4
Telephone: (613) 992-8304
Fax: (613) 943-2343
TTY: (613) 992-6969