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The Friends of the Library

A crowd of people browsing thousands of books on tables in Seeley Hall during the annual book sale.

The Friends of the Library, Trinity College is an active group of volunteers who support the programme of the Library. The objectives of the Friends are several -- to raise and contribute funds for acquisitions and special projects; to encourage gifts and bequests of books and manuscripts to the Library and Archives; and to promote awareness of the Library's resources by organizing programmes of literary and intellectual interest and supporting exhibitions and other initiatives.

To this end the Friends hold an annual Book Sale, an event for readers, collectors and bibliophiles, which raises significant funds for the Library (more than $120,000 in recent years). The College is greatly indebted to the Friends for donations made to the Library over more than thirty years, including most recently their gift of $1,100,000 to the Spirit of Leadership Campaign for the Library Building and Endowment funds, the fulfillment of their $1,000,000 pledge for the Friends of the Library Endowment for Library Acquisitions, and their new pledge of $1,000,000 for the Friends of the Library Endowment to support the Nicholls Librarianship. To celebrate Trinity's Sesquicentennial, the Friends published Of Folios and Friends: A Trinity College Book of Days, a handsome small volume designed for you to record personal days of the year in the context of a charming illustrated chronicle of College history. This book is available for sale in the Graham Library office, along with greeting cards based on works in the Library's Special Collections.

The Friends organize many other activities for their members, such as guest lectures by noted authors, the annual Archibald Lampman Poetry Reading, excursions to theatre festivals, and other literary events.

Please note the following 2009-2010 events of the Friends:  

22 September (Tuesday): Twenty-one Takes: Glenn Gould as Philosopher, Professor Mark Kingwell; Annual General Meeting, Combination Room, 7:30 for 8 pm

23-27 October (Friday - Tuesday): 34th Annual Book Sale. Seeley Hall

1 December (Tuesday): Friends' Christmas Celebration: Gifts & Giving, with the Trinity College Choral Scholars, Seeley Hall, 7:30 for 8 pm

21 January (Thursday): Gil Adamson, Author of The Outlander, Combination Room, 7:30 for 8 p.m.

23 February (Tuesday): The 11th Archibald Lampman Poetry Reading, Al Moritz, Winner of the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize, Combination Room, 5:30 pm

15 April (Thursday): The 9th Frederic Alden Warren Lecture. Stacks of Stories, Stories of Stacks. Brian Boyd, Distinguished Professor, University of Auckland, Ignatieff Theatre, 8 p.m.

Members also receive Ex Libris, an occasional journal published by The Friends of the Library, and Trinity, the magazine published by the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development. Membership is open to all.

For information about joining The Friends of the Library, attending Friends' events, helping at the Annual Book Sale, or having books picked up for the Sale, please telephone the Friends at 416-978-6750 and leave a message. To purchase greeting cards or the Book of Days, or to leave books for the Sale, stop by the Library Office on the ground floor of the John W. Graham Library, 3 Devonshire Place, or telephone 416-978-2653.