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."
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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