It's here at last: the Canada Council's third and final report on this country's Public Lending Right Program (PLR). Entitled Options for Renewal, it runs to 58 pages. Exhaustive and authoritative, it lays out the array of choices that face the Public Lending Right Commission. Hats off to Roy MacSkimming, the author and ex-publisher who wrote this superb report and also the two that preceded it.
Full disclosure: I was one of 20 "key informants" interviewed. Having served as chair, vice-chair and past-chair of Canada's Public Lending Right Commission (PLRC), while also representing The Writers' Union of Canada (TWUC), I moved on not long ago, passing the TWUC torch to Vancouver writer Genni Gunn. But as a Canadian author, I remain keenly interested.
MacSkimming makes no recommendations. Instead, he offers comparisons, notes disagreements (sometimes extreme), and lays out options. What drives the report? Since the program's first year, MacSkimming writes, "the number of participating authors has risen by a factor of 4, from 4,377 to 17,885. But the payments budget has risen by a factor of only 1.8 when adjusted for inflation." Again, "the maximum PLR payment in 1987 was $4,000 – the equivalent of $8,016 in today’s
dollars. In 2012 the maximum is $3,360." How does the Commission deal with the new reality? What options does it have? Now, you can see for yourself.

Yes, your PLR cheque is in the mail!
That is so, anyway, as of Wednesday, Feb. 15.
This year, the Public Lending Right Commission is distributing $9.9 million among almost 18,000 Canadian writers for the use of their books through public libraries. I've just returned from Montreal, where UNEQ -- the Union des ecrivaines et des ecrivains Quebecois -- mounted a fabulous event to close a year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of PLR (which is known in those parts as DPP / Droit de Pret Public). With the backing of the Canada Council, a variety of organizations came together at the spectacular edifice known as la Grande Bibliotheque to present what was essentially a highbrow variety show celebrating L'ecrivain dans la biliotheque. Leading writers and intellectuals joined forces with musical theatre folk to create a unique event highlighted by a revolving, three-person reading of passages and poems written by fifteen different writers. For me, it evoked l'esprit du Quebec. As chair of the PLRC, all I can say is merci . . . and BRAVO!

I recently returned from Ottawa, where as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, I reported to the board of the Canada Council. My main message? Next year (2011) marks the 25th anniversary of the PLR Program, which recognizes Canadian authors for the presence of their books in libraries. These are still early days. But the idea is to launch a year-long celebration of this crucial support program, and of Canadian literature generally, in Toronto next May. We'll begin with a two-night literary extravaganza, open to the public, at the annual general meeting of the Writers' Union of Canada, and finish in Montreal the following February, with TWUC'S francophone counterpart, UNEQ, hosting a literary finale at the Grande Bibliotecque. In between, the trick will be to mount events across the country (readings, panel discussions, performances) to celebrate Canadian books and authors. Stay tuned.