July Campaign Update

Public Meeting
Thank you to those of you who managed to come to the public meeting. We are compiling suggestions made at the meeting and those sent to us through the email contact address.
ideas@friendsofkensalriselibrary.org Keep those suggestions coming because it is important to know what the community wants from the library and public space that we hope to be able to create. Input from the community is vital if the space is truly going to meet the needs of everyone. And think visionary too!
Thank you to Graham for letting us have the meeting in the church, your support is valued.

Poetry Night
This was enjoyed by those that attended and the event raised over £800 towards the running of the library. One of the speakers suggested that it would be wonderful if we could manage to read a poem aloud on the tube. I’ll be interested to know if anyone tries this and also interested in the reaction of fellow passengers.
Thanks must go to the actors and others who gave of their time to make this event the success that it was and to Rachael for organising it. Thank you also to Raymond for taking photos of the event.
We have had a request to do one again and hope to have another in the autumn, dare we to hope in the library?

Mark Twain Legacy lives!
Jacques Lamarre from the Mark Twain House and Museum in Connecticut, USA has written a great letter in support of the library and you can read it on the website www.savekensalriselibrary.org

Petition to All Souls
The online petition is here and it would be great if you could sign it and circulate it to your friends:

http://www.change.org/petitions/all-souls-college-oxford-university-save-kensal-rise-library
Thank you to Jodi for organising this.

Pop Up Library
If you would like to volunteer at the pop-up library, there is a whiteboard rota fixed to the wall of the pop-up library where you can sign up (and there should be a whiteboard pen attached!)
We also have an online rota where you can sign up for time at the weekends:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArLGsajdXJP-dFg0cHRralhfdzFkRnZKdUVtalJrbEE#gid=0

Any help that you can give with the pop-up library is much appreciated. It is is an important symbol of our desire to run a library inside the building and it’s also useful for people who want to borrow books or catch up on news about the campaign. It would be great to have a good presence at the pop-up over the summer, so that anyone looking round the building will see the pop-up library in action outside and also know that this community is still serious about having our library.
We have had so many donation of books but we cannot take any more at the moment. If you could hang on to them for a while we will let you know when you can bring them to the library.

Storage space is limited and it is a bit risky in the rainy weather to have them exposed to the elements.

Ida Restaurant Fundraiser Dinner Sunday 15th July 7.30pm

Still time to get a ticket. Details of this fundraiser are on the website www.savekensalriselibrary.org

Posh nosh and highly stimulating conversation, well, convivial anyway, as wine donated by Berkmanns should be plentiful.

Low Brow Fundraiser Masons Arms Friday 3 August 7.30pm.

The Masons Arms, Harrow Road, are supporting us again with this fundraising event, for those of us not going anywhere, or those of us who have been somewhere already, and those of us with fingers crossed that we’ll be able to go anywhere…..

Very low key, with an opportunity to chat, catch up on the campaign, eat a bit, and maybe have a bit of a dance too with varied and charming music.

There will be a raffle (no Bingo yet as far as I know) and films if they are ready.

A perfect way to while away a Friday night. No need to tart up, although you can if you want to.

Tickets are £7 and will be on sale at the pop up library.

All Souls

We are preparing our proposal to All Souls and hope to have a meeting with them before the end of July. We want to make sure we know precisely what they will be looking for in order to be convinced that we can take on the running of the library. As well as presenting a convincing, sustainable plan we hope we can appeal to their best instincts when it comes to the decision about the future of the library.

It was great (while they lasted) to see the ‘Not for sale’ signs up at the library.

Good to know there is still humour and commitment for a campaign that is nearly two years old.

Gratifying that the community, and beyond, still supports the campaign even though it seems that it has taken over our lives a bit.

Goodwill and co-operation still.

Regards,

Margaret Bailey