Appeal for Funds

The Catholic National Library relies entirely on donations and member subscriptions. The long term aim of the Library is to build an endowment fund which will enable it to become self-supporting. In the meantime, however, funds are required for every day running costs, purchase of books, etc. There are several different ways you can support the Library financially, as described below.

On-line

Become an Endowment Supporter

Would you be willing to commit to a regular payment by direct debit? If the amount you could commit to was the equivalent of £100/month or more, you could become an Endowment Supporter. Money contributed to the CNL Endowment Fund would be used to generate income to cover the normal running costs of the Library.

Become a Friend of the Library

Would you be willing to commit a smaller amount on a regular basis by direct debit and become a Friend of the Library? Money contributed this way would be would be used to support the CNL Endowment Fund so that the Library can, eventually, become self-supporting.

Become a Book Sponsor

The Library is adding new books all the time: there are many books which are essential both to fill in gaps in the Library stock, and to enable it to provide a better and up-to-date service. However, many book prices, often over £50.00, place them outside our current budget. Would you be prepared to sponsor such a book? All sponsors will have their names on a book plate which will be adhered inside the book or books they are sponsoring.

Support a Project

The Library has several projects lined up for 2010 and beyond, it would welcome donations for specific projects:

Upgrade Catalogue from cards to an electronic system

The Library still uses a card catalogue, though it did, in 2000, start the process of making the catalogue available online. We've been relying on voluntary support for this mammoth task (over 70,000 books entered). All the data has been keyed and uploaded. We plan to upgrade to a fully electronic system as soon as funds permit. Once this system is in place, members will be able to reserve books online and check their loans. The new system will facilitate the kinds of searches and services typically available with modern online library catalogues.

Part of this project involves bringing our catalogue records up to the internationally recognised library standard (MARC21). An exercise in which the British Library, amongst others, has an interest because it will make available to them the unique cataloguing which has been done at CNL over the years. Technical library stuff, we know, but it's important to libraries, it means we can share data and eventually apply to be part of the UK's academic central library database (COPAC); that, in turn, means that any student/academic will have easy access to CNL catalogue records.

Project for Networking Archives and Libraries in the Catholic Church

Plans for this project were initiated in 2007. The project has proved so attractive that it has snow-balled, attracting more and more partners. In February 2009 the Trustees of the Catholic National Library agreed to apply to join the project and to seek the funds to enable CNL to fully participate in the project. This project aims to make available online the archives and libraries of the Catholic Church. The Catholic National Library will make an important contribution to the "Libraries" part of the project, especially as its collection is easily available to the general public.

Development of the Collection

The Library continually invests in its collection, but there is never enough money to purchase everything the Library needs. We've been very fortunate in that we are often offered collections and sometimes these prove really valuable. We also receive single books, often read once and then passed on to us. Through these means we build the collection by about 1,000 to 1,500 books a year. However, there are publications that we'd like to add which are far too costly for our current budget. There are also areas of our collection which we feel are weak and would like to develop. Given sufficient funds we'd like to make the collection not just one of the finest in the world, but the finest.

Buildings, furnishings, equipment, staff

We've been very fortunate in our accommodation which is provided free of charge by the Abbot, St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough. Some of the accommodation needs to be brought up to a standard suitable for storing books, we also wish to install some additional moving shelves in order to increase storage space. We currently have a single computer work station but enough work to merit two. The upgrade to an electronic cataloguing system will entail some additional hardware (check-out desk equipment, computers for searching the catalogue, bar-code printers, etc). We'd like to provide wireless internet access as part of our service. We'd also like to re-instate our Librarian's salary and that of her assistant (they had to give up their salaries in July 2008 due to lack of funds).

If you would like to support any of the above projects, you can use the Library's PayPal account, click the

button and add a comment to say what the donation is for, or write to the Library enclosing your donation. The Library can also accept payments made by debit/credit card. Alternatively, you can donate via the Charities Aid Foundation.

Shop via the CNL Shop

The Library has signed up for an account with www.buy.at. When you do your on-line shopping at this site a commission is paid to the Library. The list of available retailers includes some nationally recognised names (Marks & Spencer, Amazon, Waterstones, Early Learning Centre). You pay no more than you would if you went direct to the store and sometimes you may pay less. The list of retailers displays the amount of commission paid. The address of the shop is www.buy.at/CatholicNationalLibrary.

See also information on the Support page.