Formed earlier this year, the Canada Comics Open Library has a mission to support the growing Canadian comic book community by providing an accessible library for readers to enjoy comic and graphic novels from around the world, host panels and workshops for aspiring creators and promote comics to a wider audience. While public libraries already contain graphic novels and host events, having a dedicated home for comics can provide more support for the comics community year round besides occasional events and conventions. They already have over 500 titles in their collection and make a strong effort to showcase titles with inclusive and diverse themes. Titles in the collection do not necessarily need to be made by Canadians but those that are will also be readily available.
They have launched an indiegogo campaign to fund their first year of operations, which will allow them to prove their potential and attract more grants and sponsors. Margaret Atwood has already shared and pledged to the campaign and the toronto star published an article. Pledges can be as low as $10 for a simple membership and every pledge will also allow for more free memberships to be made available for those unable to purchase one. This is an ambitious goal and they need all the support they can get!