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Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

We need your help to open Canada's first non-profit library dedicated solely to comics!

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Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

Help Us Build Canada's Comics Library!

We need your help to open Canada's first non-profit library dedicated solely to comics!

We need your help to open Canada's first non-profit library dedicated solely to comics!

We need your help to open Canada's first non-profit library dedicated solely to comics!

We need your help to open Canada's first non-profit library dedicated solely to comics!

Rotem Diamant
Rotem Diamant
Rotem Diamant
Rotem Diamant
2 Campaigns |
Toronto, Canada
$2,561 USD $2,561 USD 39 backers
4% of $59,925 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Highlights
Mountain Filled 2 Projects Mountain Filled 2 Projects
Overview
We are a non-profit library dedicated solely to comics! We recognize that comics are out of reach for many people. We want everyone to read comics, and we want everyone to be able to look up at our shelves and see themselves represented. Comics are a powerful medium for telling diverse stories that should be read. Help us spread the love of comics and open our first CCOL branch!

Summary

The Canada Comics Open Library needs your help to be able to open our doors to the public for our first library branch in Toronto! We want to make our comics collection publicly accessible, and we need your help to be able to work with and support creators and offer a cozy and vibrant space. Our comics collection includes over 500 titles and continues to grow. Check out our online catalogue!

The comics library will be the first of its kind in Canada, with the potential to grow to become the largest publicly accessible comics collection in the world!

The comics library will be a welcoming space where you can drop by to read our comics, hang around to work on your own comics and art, speak with other people interested in comics and the comic arts, and participate in workshops and other events.

What We'd Like to Do!

  • Help us open open a physical library location to share our comics and serve as a welcoming creative community space!
  • Help us purchase diverse comics and make them accessible to all! Also, help us purchase library supplies and furniture to create a comfy space.
  • Support accessible artist-led workshops and community events by helping us provide fair pay to artists and guest speakers.
  • Help us pay our full-time administrative staff member to continue maintaining the collection, Canadian Cartoonist Database, and online resources!

Who We Are

We are a dedicated team of 8 individuals including librarians, cartoonists, makers, and readers based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We share a passion for comics and graphic novels, filling gap areas in arts accessibility, and provoking community building through arts and literature. We are motivated and excited to spread the love of comics.

What We Need

Breakdown of our annual costs:

$60,000 for direct operating for 12 months: rent + utilities + acquisitions + library supplies

$20,000+ towards fair pay for full-time administrative staff member

$5,000  fair honorariums for artists and guests + workshop and event supplies

The Impact

We want to support and grow the already vibrant comics community in Toronto and across Canada!

Toronto already loves comics! From its diverse and vibrant comics community, to the retail locations, and festivals, Toronto is the perfect home for an accessible comics library!

While this first project will be the pilot for what a comics library can look like, if our memberships, donations, and successful grants continue to meet our targets, we plan to continue opening locations across Canada. We also plan to release our open source library software, and maintain an open approach to our operations. We want to provide special libraries with solutions we have found to common issues in digital cataloguing.

Our membership price will always be affordable for all — we have a pay it forward model for free membership so those who cannot afford the membership are never turned away.

We envision that in the future comics will be more accessible to everyone in Canada, in part through several CCOL library branches where thousands of comics will be available for all to read.

We envision a future where comics are increasingly valued as a literary form and medium for storytelling, where people are encouraged and inspired to tell stories and weave worlds in comics form.

Statements of Support

 

“Over the years of running The Beguiling, and helping start TCAF, few things have been clearer than the benefits of getting comics into the hands of more readers.  It may seem strange for someone whose business is selling comics to put efforts into methods that allow people to borrow them for free, but projects like CCOL can only benefit the whole comics community by growing a new readership, particularly among audiences that haven't had access to comics, and who have traditionally not found themselves represented there."

-Peter Birkemoe, owner of The Beguiling and co-founder of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival
 

“As an educator and cartoonist I am very excited about The Canada Comics Open Library.  Having a resource for comic books, graphic novels, zines, cartoonists, collectives, and related activities in one spot is going to be a game changer in Toronto and beyond. Cartooning tends to be a lonely activity and the opportunity to join forces in these troubled times is a great thing. Comics have become one of the best mediums for empowering activism and creating change. Woot, Woot, CCOL!!”

-Fiona Smyth, cartoonist, illustrator, and instructor at OCAD University and the Art Gallery of Ontario

"Comics have become one of the most powerful forms of contemporary storytelling, whether they are about superheroes or everyday people, fantasy worlds or local neighbourhoods, major world events or deeply personal experiences. The Canada Comics Open Library will unfold this diverse world of comics in exciting new ways for both die-hard fans and new readers. Making comics accessible in a community space, identifying them by interests, themes, and topics, and organizing them to showcase their wealth of visual styles are all brilliant ideas to make the space welcoming and inclusive. The plans to host events and showcase comics creators will add to Toronto’s already vibrant comics scene and support local artists. Every city needs a branch of the Canada Comics Open Library!"

-Candida Rifkind, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Winnipeg & Vice-President, Comics Studies Society

CCOL's Financial Challenges

There is a lot we have been able to accomplish without outside funding, such as: growing our library catalogue to over 500 comics, building an online platform (including resources such as our Canadian Cartoonists Database), and holding our first pop up library and comics panel, but it has been difficult— just imagine what we could do if we did have proper funding! We are beyond excited to be able to show you!

Because we are a new and volunteer-run non-profit organization, we’ve encountered several challenges this year:

Grants: We are in the process of applying to several project grants. Unfortunately, since we are  new, we don’t have the financial or social history required to qualify for any operating grants. Sadly, there are very few grants for non-profits that are not charities (and we are not a charity)

Rent: We want to be as accessible as possible, which means that our venues and partnerships with spaces are limited (since unfortunately there are only a handful of accessible low-cost/free event venues in the city that work with nonprofits)— This is why we’d like to be able to rent an accessible space all on our own, and we need your help to do it! Rent in Toronto is high and will costs us apx. $60,000 per year just to rent and maintain a space, with some additional costs for initial development of the space.

Compensation: We are currently volunteer-run, but we would like to pay a fair salary to current full-time staff and provide fair pay for artists to run workshops. This will total $20,000 per year for full-time administrative staff member, and $5,000 to run workshops and provide fair honorariums to workshop guests, artist in residencies, and panel guests. Otherwise, the comics library will be supported by our wonderful network of volunteers and library directors!

Other Ways You Can Help

We would be thrilled if you would help spread the word on social media, re-tweet us, share your thoughts, and share events and pages from the website! Share our crowdfunding page! If you want to do more and volunteer your time to the campaign, please email us at: volunteer@canadacomicsol.org to let us know your interest. Visit our website volunteer page for more information!

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Choose your Perk

Citizen Hero

Citizen Hero

Currency Conversion $7 USD
$10 CAD
1 year membership + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool! Membership cards will be available to pick up when we open our physical location. If we are unable to open our first physical location by March 24th, we will ship your membership card to you.
Included Items
  • 1 year + PIF Membership
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
4 claimed
Comics Sponsor

Comics Sponsor

Currency Conversion $11 USD
$15 CAD
1 year membership + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool + sponsor a comic and your name will be added to a book plate inside a comic in our collection of your choosing! Membership begins when you receive the card. We won’t set the expiry date on the cards until we have a physical space!
Included Items
  • 1 year + PIF Membership
  • Sponsor a comic!
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
0 claimed
Ships worldwide.
Super Reader

Super Reader

Currency Conversion $14 USD
$20 CAD
1 year membership + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool + a bookmark Membership cards will be available to pick up when we open our physical location. If we are unable to open our first physical location by March 24th, we will ship your membership card to you.
Included Items
  • 1 year + PIF + Bookmark
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
16 claimed
Comics Supporter

Comics Supporter

Currency Conversion $35 USD
$50 CAD
5 year membership, + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool + a bookmark
Included Items
  • 5 year + PIF + Bookmark
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
4 claimed
Ships worldwide.
Comics Champion

Comics Champion

Currency Conversion $70 USD
$100 CAD
5 year membership + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool + a bookmark + web recognition + CCOL t-shirt
Included Items
  • 5 year + PIF + Bookmark
  • Web Recognition + CCOL T-shirt
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
7 claimed
Ships to Canada, United States of America
Sidekick

Sidekick

Currency Conversion $141 USD
$200 CAD
5 year membership + pay it forward membership for someone in the future to go into our free membership pool + bookmark + web recognition + hand-printed CCOL t-shirt
Included Items
  • 5 year + PIF + Bookmark
  • Web Recognition + HP T-shirt
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
2 claimed
Ships to Canada, United States of America
Superhero

Superhero

Currency Conversion $352 USD
$500 CAD
10 year membership + pay it forward membership for 10 people in the future to go into our free membership pool + bookmark + web recognition + hand-printed CCOL t-shirt + tote bag
Included Items
  • Web Recognition + HP T-shirt
  • 10 year + 10 PIF Memberships
  • Book Mark + Tote Bag
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
1 claimed
Ships to Canada, United States of America
Member of the League

Member of the League

Currency Conversion $705 USD
$1,000 CAD
lifetime membership + pay it forward membership for 15 people in the future to go into our free membership pool + bookmark + web recognition + hand-printed CCOL t-shirt + tote bag + name to be displayed in the Toronto Branch on a plaque!
Included Items
  • Lifetime Membership + 15 PIF
  • Bookmark + Web Recognition
  • HP T-shirt + Tote Bag
  • Name Displayed in Library!
Estimated Shipping
February 2019
1 claimed
Ships to Canada, United States of America

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