On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of PLR in Canada, Andreas Schroeder, Founding Chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, delivered the keynote lecture of the 2011 AGM and OnWords Conference "The Untold Story of PLR." The audio recording of that lecture is available to stream or download here.

THE UNTOLD STORY OF PLR

To commemorate this anniversary, members of The Writers' Union of Canada contributed testimonials on the importance of PLR to their writing lives over the last 25 years. Those testimonials were are collected here and were printed in a limited edition publication from the Union that is available as a downloadable pdf.

WRITERS' TESTIMONIALS about the Public Lending Right

ELIZABETH ABBOT
The Public Lending Right is much more than the annual cheque that eases that month’s financial worries. It affirms my status as a writer of value to my society by reminding me that many libraries carry my books. And when A History of Marriage was short-listed for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the good folks at the PLR sent me a congratulatory letter that will surely survive the inevitable bouts of file cleansing that are one of my finally-finished-another-book rituals. The PLR also provides an organizational model for future attempts to recognize other creative communities.
Thanks!

CAROLINE ADDERSON
For most writers in this country the arrival of the PLR cheque dramatically brightens our long dark Februaries. First, there is the money. Cheques are so welcome! For most of us, in fact, PLR actually brings in more money over time than royalties do. Secondly, there is the much anticipated “hit rate.” Writers receive these scores much the way figure skaters receive theirs, by dressing up in spangly costumes and shouting for joy, or weeping uncontrollably. A good hit rate is even more ego-boosting than a good review because the PLR score translates into immediate cash where a good review’s influence on sales can never be directly proven. Eventually, though, we have to peel off the costumes and turn down the Rachmaninoff for the PLR score doesn’t really testify to a book’s merit, but to the merit of the particular library that purchased it. It is to the Writers’ Union of Canada, who devised and fought for the program, and our librarians who implement it, that we writers owe our gratitude for PLR. TWUC, you deserve spangles.

JAN ANDREWS
I was at the initial launch in Ottawa when we gathered in some now-forgotten location to pick up our checks in person. People were stunned. They had all assumed they would be getting some sort of token amount but, as the envelopes were opened and we realized this was real money, there were all these cries of surprise and delight. One writer – Joan Finnegan, I think – burst into tears. She said something to the effect that this meant next month’s groceries were now secured. I think of that each time the new check comes. It’s still a life-saver, still very much a part of how I, as a writer, keep bread on the table. It may not seem like much to politicians but it’s a huge amount to me.

MEL ATKEY
To be honest, for the past couple of years I’ve received more from PLR than I have from book sales. This year it paid for a much-needed upgrade to my computer, so yes, I’m very grateful. It’s also an indication that my books are reaching the student audience they were largely intended for.

MARGARET ATWOOD
Obtaining PLR was a long struggle, but an important morale-booster for writers — who for so long had been told that everyone in the library system should get paid except the creators of books. Congratulations to all who won PLR for writers, and to all writers who benefit from it.

JUDY FONG BATES
For an immigrant kid like me, growing up in small town Ontario, the public library was the heart of my reading life. And now, not only are my books are in public libraries throughout Canada, I'm getting money for it. Unbelievable! Thank you PLR.

EUGENE BENSON
The photograph I am looking at was taken almost thirty years ago. A group of people on a Toronto street with banners asking for PLR. We all look impossibly young. Tiff Findley is speaking. I see June Callwood, Susan Crean, and Dorris Heffron, fetching in blazer and boater hat. And Bob Rae and Gordon Pinsent. So young but so committed.

GAIL BOWEN
Several years ago, a writer in Texas and I were talking about government support for working writers. I mentioned the Public Lending Right payments that Canadian writers get to compensate them for use of their books in libraries. My Texas friend was incredulous. “I’m moving to Canada,” he said.

Few Canadian writers will get rich from the sale of their work, but a number of programs make it possible for us to exist, to reach an audience and to have our voices heard.

It’s impossible to overestimate the role the Canada Council plays in fostering Canadian literature. The Governor General’s Literary Awards recognize excellence, boost the sales of any book that is short-listed and offer a hefty financial prize. The Council also assists publishers, offers grants and awards to accomplished writers and supports author readings that allow us to travel and to reach new audiences.

The Writers Union of Canada and provincial organization like the Saskatchewan Writers Guild also sponsor author readings. Additionally, they fund writing contests and seminars and act as our advocates. The Access Copyright Payback program, formed by rightsholders, administers reproduction rights, including photocopying rights.

Canada is a hospitable country for writers. My Texas friend still hasn’t moved here, but he does spend hours gazing longingly across the border.

MARY BYERS
I am the author of 12 books published by various publishers — University of Toronto Press, Boston Mills Press, Dundurn, Stoddarts.

From my first book, Rural Roots, published in 1976, I received royalties for my work but they were meagre and extremely discouraging. This continued to be the case through my next two books published in 1978 and 1982. Then PLR came on the scene. The royalties continued to be meagre but due to PLR through the years until my most recent work in 2009 I have received not just the cheque but the knowledge that someone thinks what I am doing is important, even maybe significant. This encouragement has been crucial and continues to be so.

SILVER DONALD CAMERON
I wonder how many Union members realize that their entitlement to PLR payments is an actual financial asset that can appear on their personal balance sheet. I was once applying for a loan, and I thought, Hmm, what's the value of an asset that produces, say, $2000 a year with no element of risk at all? In safety it's comparable to a government bond, which might (in those days) have yielded 5% interest. What would be the value of a bond that yields $2000 at 5%? The answer: $40,000.

So when I listed my assets on my loan application I listed my PLR entitlement as a $40K asset, and put an explanation (much like the preceding paragraph) in a footnote.

"Interesting," said the loans officer, nodding. "Makes perfect sense." And he gave me the loan.

ELSPETH CAMERON
PLR made me feel like a REAL writer. Although I had a regular paycheck, it was always a wonderful surprise to get that annual payment. I feel deeply indebted to Graeme Gibson and Marian Engel for all the work they did to put this programme in place.

ANNE CAMPBELL
It was spring, 1981; Andreas Schroeder was Writer-in-Residence at the Regina Public Library. The Saskatchewan Library Association was hosting their Mary Donaldson lecture and Andreas was guest speaker. His talk: Compensation for Authors, or The Search for the Elusive Red Jelly Bean.

I remember clearly Andreas' well stated arguments and was surprised when PLR Director, Ron Yeo, stood to rebut and Andreas leapt to his feet proceeding to counter Yeo's response. With his usual passionately expressed logic he turned the tide: Yeo, one of the most respected Library Directors of his day, was moved to reconsider his view. Much was done by many others, before and after The Search for the Elusive Red Jelly Bean, but Andreas' moment at this conference was one that surely began to turn the mood of librarians in another direction, one headed for compensation for writers' work in libraries. Thanks Andreas.

RON CHARACH
As a poet who has a well-remunerated day job (as a psychiatrist), I never apply for government grants to support my work; I would rather that money go to authors in greater need. My career as the author of ten books, nine of them poetry, results in a net loss, at least financially.

Receiving a cheque from PLR and from Access Copyright have become rites de passage that shore up my identity as a writer, proof that my contributions to Canadian literature are recognized by the government on behalf of the reading public at large, and especially students in schools and universities. While the absolute amounts on these cheques won't get me to quit my day job, they address a certain psychological need, both as honoraria and acts of appreciation. Someone once said that releasing a new book of poems is like tossing a rose petal into the Grand Canyon, and waiting for the echo. The very process of "registering" each book after it is launched has become, for me, a satisfying part of making the launch official, all the more reified. Someone has noticed both the rose petal and its flight, and even wants the ISBN number and indeed, its full measure, in the form of its table of contents and exact number of pages.

WAYSON CHOY
Whenever I receive an envelope from the PLR, I'm assured my books are being circulated. I'm overjoyed and imagine that a yearning-to-be writer had just finished reading Paper Shadows or The Jade Peony, and feverishly felt — as in my teens I once did after reading Bonjour Tristesse, East of Eden, and The Good Earth — I can do that, and begins his or her lifetime work

SUSAN CREAN
When PLR was announced it made the news. There was Marian Engel on television explaining it would pay writers' for their contribution to public libraries and was meant as serious compensation. More than the celebratory dinner out, she quipped. And so it has been.

CONSTANCE CROOK
Thank you for this cheque that comes regularly each year! Not only is the money greatly appreciated but also the confirmation that my books are in Libraries across Canada. As I registered each new book, I was encouraged by this knowledge — that my books, mostly historical Canadian fiction with a strong emphasis on historical accuracy, are still being read.

MARY LOU DICKINSON
Even though I'm a late-comer to the world of having books of my own published, I've known about and supported PLR since before its inception. I laud the fairness of such a system. Reward the creator. Give the reader options. Support the public library system. Everyone wins!

JILL DOWNIE
From the very beginning PLR has been like a yearly gift from the writing gods. There before me was actual proof that, somewhere, readers were taking out books I had written, some of them long, long ago. There before me was actual proof that, whatever was happening in the present, I was a published author. Of course the money was welcome, but it was more than that. PLR did more than make me feel like a somebody; it reminded me that I was a writer.

SONJA DUNN
We are indeed fortunate to have so many talented TWUC members who are working o our behalf. Thanks a million for making PLR a reality. It’s not just about the money, but who doesn’t appreciate any remuneration that might end up in our coffers? (PLR & Copyright.) It’s comforting to know that TWUC is attacking unfair practices and looking after us. In fact, we are better off than opera singers who perform in Met live broadcasts. People are buying tickets to see these performances but the performers are not being paid. They need TWUC. I am proud to be a TWUC member as were Doris McCarthy, Gloria Frolick and Kati Rekai. And special thanks to Andreas Schroeder.

SORAYA ERIAN
The Public Lending Rights Commission is a validation of my existence as writer and published artist. I work in solitude, and when the PLR statement reaches me, I feel that someone out there is aware of my work and is crediting it with a recognized worth. PLR is an acknowledgement of the vital role art plays in our country’s cultural life and in the evolution of its identity. The PLR cheque is a great encouragement to the solitary person struggling to render a personal vision into an art form that would be appreciated by fellow citizens and peoples all over the world. The money is a great booster when art industries languish during poor economic times. It is also a fine consolation for a low royalty cheque. A million thanks for the recognition and support. Please stay on guard for the creators of our national culture.

TREVOR FERGUSON
Every nickel I’ve ever received from PLR has gone into another acronym, an RRSP, a strategy that has helped the project of writing for a living to feel viable. Future retirement is not the destination — who wants to relinquish such a great job?—but neither is a future of penury. Thanks.

CHARLOTTE FIELDEN
As a founding member of the Writers' Union of Canada, and the Playwrights' Guild of Canada, it's kind of like a dream, that the few of us who worked to make TWUC happen, and who had been published in those early days would live to see PLRs going out to so many. Macmillan of Canada published my first novel Crying As She Ran (1970), and the Playwrights' Co-op published my first produced play One Crowded Hour (1976). This all seemed like a fantasy at the time... and yes, I am glad, now with 10 books out there in libraries across Canada, to be a recipient of the PLR cheque every year. Beads on a Fragile String (2011) a second poetry collection, and my first mystery novel, The Wolves of Positano, (2010) came out in time to register for next year’s tally. A great incentive to write yet another book!

PRISCILLA GALLOWAY
Public Lending Right has been very good for me. Adventures on the Ancient Silk Road, (2009, with Dawn Hunter) will almost certainly be my last trade book. While not a pension, PLR will be a major source of my writing income for a few years yet. Now in my eighties and limited by osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, I appreciate both money and support.

Throughout its history, I’ve admired PLR’s administrative efficiency. One annual mailing carries last year’s tax slip and this year’s update form, plus any other requisite written communication. This year, I had a modest disagreement with a PLR ruling. My concern was understood; a resolution was suggested; and I didn’t have to wait half an hour on the phone.

I’m thankful that libraries have valued my books enough that in a throwaway age many of my older publications continue to be found and, I trust, enjoyed by new audiences. How would I know this reassuring fact if not for PLR?

Blessings upon those dedicated folk who have now and have had earlier a share in this so-rewarding program.

GALE ZOË GARNETT
TWUC does many fine things for its members (I’ve been a TWUC-er since 1999). For me, the best of these is PLR.

While all authors want (indeed, need) to sell books, what we love best, apart from writing itself, is having readers. PLR makes it possible for every Canadian, regardless of income, to find and read our published work via their local library. This not only brings us readers, it supports libraries, a beloved resource in Canada and in the wider world. Those of us who are freelancers receive monies… whenever. Recently, I received a PLR cheque. It was a good-sized cheque, for all four of my books. I was happy because it was money—and proud because it was PLR.

KATHERINE GOVIER
I love getting my PLR cheque every year. It makes me feel a lot better about giving readings at all those libraries where I'm greeted with a jolly: "We've got 34 people on the waiting list for your (brand new) book!"

CHARLOTTE GRAY
The PLR annual payment is a wonderful income boost to me personally, but even more important, it represents recognition that books still form the core of our library system -- so books' authors deserve recompense. Thank heavens for public libraries, used by so many Canadians. And thank you PLR, for acknowledging content providers.

HEIDI GRECO
Even though I don't recall the number on it, I can remember my first PLR cheque. It was probably for something like 38 dollars. Still, it made me feel acknowledged as a 'real writer' — like the ad says, one of those moments that's priceless.

VALERIE GREEN
The PLR has been a great ego-booster for me, both financially and from the standpoint of being recognized as a professional writer across Canada. It is an absolute joy to receive the cheque each year and to know that my work is being seen and appreciated across Canada in numerous libraries.

As a Victoria, B.C. writer, I much appreciate the hard-work of the PLR pioneers who worked so hard to make this happen for Canadian writers. Thank You!

JO HAMMOND
My husband, Dick Hammond, was an extraordinarily gifted man who spent most of his life in a self-employed job on the sea. Three of his books were published, but due to his reclusive nature they did not sell well. When he died unexpectedly in fall 2008, I — a rookie member of TWUC — was left with a collapsing house and yard à la Grey Gardens with barely any funds to fix them. So when a snow-laden fir branch broke my hydro line that following Christmas Eve leaving me without heat or light in the sub-zero house for four days, I can truthfully say that I had hit the lowest point of my life.

Although it was a relatively small amount compared to my immediate needs, the PLR cheque that arrived in my mailbox soon after this episode marked a sudden turnaround in my mental health and enabled me to finish my latest book, Edge of the Sound, pub. Caitlin Press.

JOYCE HARRIES
I've only been on the PLR list since 2001, but that was the year I turned seventy-three and my first of two books was hot off the press (Girdles and Other Harnesses I Have Known Lone Pine Publishing, 2000, Twice in a Blue Moon Spotted Cow Press 2007) Since then, I've imagined libraries across the land handing out my books to who-knows-who, and since the books are partly memoir — those people must now know me. The cheque in the mail is more than welcome. Thanks WUC for your efforts past and present for writers.

DORRIS HEFFRON
For 40 years, my novels have been circulating in the libraries. Thank you TWUC for creating the Canadian PLR. Thanks particularly to the tireless Chair people over the years. Those payments have kept me alive as a writer, especially during the famine years.

GREG HOLLINGSHEAD
Like many of us, I pay my TWUC dues off the top of my PLR payment. And I do my TWUC service in large part out of gratitude for what TWUC accomplished in PLR.

DAVID HOMEL
The Bible tells us of lean years and fat years, and I was the President of PLR during the fat years. I would joke to my friends that the hardest part of the job was going to Henri Berger's restaurant with then-minister Marcel Masse. But even at that time, the challenges were present: how could we finance an ever-growing program? Some of us wanted to bring in a sliding scale of "hits" based on year of publication, but there was much resistance. Now, we have had to face that particular music. And I think we have done it wisely and in a shared fashion.

IRENE HOWARD
I'd like Andreas to know that for this writer of local history, the PLR cheque in February is a real morale booster. It used to pay for the car licence. Now that I don't drive anymore, it pays the dentist bill and maybe also a new pair of cords by Olinda, or that  that really gorgeous sweater on sale in her shop window. So I send him and all his many helpers my most heartfelt thanks for getting PLR launched in Canada and keeping the ship afloat these many years. 

ODE FOR SAINT SCHROEDER'S DAY

An Affectionate Tribute to Our Heroic Champions of the Public Lending Right Program

by Irene Howard with her most humble thanks to William Shakespeare

This day is called the Feast of Schroeder,
to celebrate with due pomp and ceremony
(and with what joy Canadians will allow)
The Public Lending Right Commission,
absorber of the thousand fiscal shocks
the citizenry is heir to; purveyor of the
Yearly cheque, the blessed royal stipend
heralding the spring, the end of crunching
winter with cash that pays the income tax,
the car insurance and the dentist bill.

Schroeder it was, that fierce imp of fame,
Who led us forth and thus addressed the nation:
"Friends, Readers, Canadians, we lend
you our books, yet with ignoble thrift
you read, enjoy without payment.
our cloud-capped towers -- all this do you inherit.
our golden words, our wealth, lives after us.
In penury interred are our bones."

Behind him, meanwhile, that great fist of a man,
Cohen, our mighty Cohen, in sombre soliloquy:
"To eat, or not to eat, there is no question.
No longer can we bear the slings and arrows
Of outrageous custom that denies us
Stingily of recompense for toil."

Thus spake Matt Cohen and Andreas Schroeder.
Forth they strode, sounded the bannered trumpets
upon the field of Ottawa, our Agincourt.
But found a sluggard foe, ten years and four
frozen in the pack ice of intransigence

(The Gallic shrug, the smiling Irish eyes).
Yet by the vexed vapours of their valour
our comrades loosed the engines of supply,
a royal treaty Marcel Masse proclaimed,
And Flora, Tartan Flora, skirled the pipes.

Thrice the button Flora pressed,
the cheques roll out, the cameras grind.
Thrice the scrum, the microphone.
And Andreas cries, `Tis time! `Tis time!

Double, double, champagne bubbles,
Fourteen years of toil and trouble.

Thus was the winter of our discontent
Made glorious by the summer sun of Schroeder
and Cohen, faithful Cohen. Well have all done,
all union comrades; and when this day is named,
We few, we happy few, we band of scribblers
stand tip-a-toe, and Marian Engel, Angel
leaning out of her Heavenly Villa, touches
our fingertips, sparking us to rally
“`gainst the damned and luxurious mountain goats*
Who fatten on the slopes of productivity
and global competition. Thomson, Southam
Conrad Black -- our revels have only started.

* Henry V, Act IV, Scene iv, l. 20

Your Intelligent Reader”s Guide:
The first line, echoing Henry V and the Saint Crispin’s Day speech, slides into Hamlet’s “To Be or not to Be” soliloquy and from there we go crazily on to Anthony’s oration over the body of Julius Caesar, with Prospero’s “cloud-capped towers etc. sandwiched in between.
“that great fist of a man” is almost certainly Shakespearean” Matt Cohen, as you know and sadly, died some years ago, and dear Marian Engel too. Flora McDonald was the Red Tory MP. And so it goes careering from one play to another, McBeth, Richard III, and ending, as it had to with, Henry V, Agincourt and “we few, we happy few.”

MARNI JACKSON
I think the PLR is the one of the best things the Writer's Union has ever done for writers in this country. There is so much emphasis on marketing and sales as the driving forces behind publishing now that writers can lose sight of what their work means to readers. The PLR reflects the value of a book to the reading public, as measured by its circulation in a library. It's not a lottery, or a competition, or a handout. PLR makes the relationship between writer and reader — the reason many of us write in the first place — more meaningful. We are grateful for this initiative!

SARAH JENNINGS
As the CBC's Ottawa-based national arts reporter I covered the story of the struggle for the "payment for public use" of books. I sat in on parliamentary committees, listened to its advocates, discussed it with senior arts officials in Ottawa and followed the debates until the programme was finally announced by the government. The concept seemed so intelligent and full of common sense and it was good to report on it. At the time I had no notion that I would ever be one of its beneficiaries.

As an author now, twenty-five years on and with one volume in print, it was an extraordinary sensation to receive the PLR cheque in the mail. The money was a kind of surprise and the remuneration paid struck me as generous at just a shade less than the actual cost of the book. Above all, to know that individuals had chosen the book from a public library was astonishingly gratifying.

LEANNE M. JONES
My name is Leanne Jones and I am a private investigator in Victoria B.C. I remember the year of the AGM when we all marched up to parliament hill to lobby for the PLR . It was a chilly rainy day and we all carried umbrellas. I never realized the importance of that struggle until this year when my book is being published about the genius Edson C. Hendricks who invented the design for the early stage of the internet.

It is a story that has never been told because the gentleman did not want the attention that fame brings at that time, however, now it has already caught attention in a variety of different areas. It’s also timely to the digital age and a story that the world has been pushing to find out.

HEATHER KELLARHALS
Anyone entering the writing world post PLR has little idea of the work that went into this — the endless meetings,research into PLR programs in other countries, plus encountering and overcoming resistance from some quarters. I remember sitting in that Toronto meeting, held after the AGM, listening rapt as Matt Cohen and Andreas Schroeder outlined their PLR proposal. Exciting stuff and you could feel it in the room. Before PLR, many of us worked in that underworld of invisible writers — little money, some of us even doubting that we were real writers. Then suddenly we were told YES, you really are writers and you'll even get paid for it on a regular basis. Thanks a lot, Matt and Andreas.

GORDON KORMAN
25 years ago, I was 22, an established writer (more or less!) and trying to make a career out of this thing I seemed to have something of a knack for. The PLR money helped a lot. But more than that, it was the respect it represented — respect for my work, and encouragement as well as support for me as an artist. The thing that impressed me most back then, and still does, is how careful the powers that be at PLR are with the grant money. They're positively stingy for themselves, and fanatic about seeing to it that the money goes to the authors who are registered with them.

That's respect, both for the authors and for the taxpayers! Good on you, PLR. You're much appreciated.

MYRNA KOSTASH
As a member of that minority called the fulltime professional writer in Canada, I can attest to the glorious fact that my annual PLR cheque comes just at the right time — in the middle of prairie winter — and with enough figures to boost my morale. Every year it arrives to remind me that I am a professional, rewarded for having written books held in the public trust in public libraries. Does it get much better than that?

KAREN KROSSING
The arrival of the Public Lending Right's cheque every February is financial validation of my contribution to Canadian society. Sure, it's a way to help pay my mortgage, but it's also an essential recognition of the value of the collective body of intellectual work in Canada.

ALMA LEE
As the founding Executive Director of TWUC I was there at the very beginning of the PLR campaign. Those were heady times when we could meet ministers just by phoning. My recollection is that Andreas took on this campaign big time and look where it is now. Yeah for PLR and the writers who have benefitted from it.

STEPHEN LEGAULT
The Public Lending Rights Commission has provided me with more income from my most recent two titles than public book sales have! The PLC has helped make writing more profitable for many of Canada’s struggling authors.

JANE LIND
PLR GAVE ME A PUSH
I registered for PLR in the early nineties after my first books in the Canadian Artists Series were published. I had been a book editor for years, but wanted to work my way into doing more of my own writing instead of editing other people's work. So when I received my first PLR cheque, I gave a big cheer for myself. That envelope in the mail seemed like a benediction on my determination to give a larger proportion of my time to writing books about artists. Granted, it wasn't a lot of money, but it gave me the little push I needed at the time, and I was grateful for the work of the Writers' Union.

JEAN LITTLE
I was there when people talked non-stop about PLR. I barely understood what it was all about. But now I feel it is like an extra birthday party when it srrives. The timing is sso perfect. I spend my money at Christmas and then there is this enormous stretch of waiting until April for the next royalty cheque. PLR is rescue! It also is marvelous getting news of books I wrote and loved long ago. Never, never let this marvelous benison cease.

ROY MACSKIMMING
An Unsung Hero of PLR
At this point few of us may remember Katherine Benzekri, a former Canada Council officer who was a committed and effective advocate for PLR. Among her other responsibilities as deputy head of the Council's Writing & Publishing section in the early 1980s, Katherine steered a working group of writers, librarians and others studying various proposed models for PLR. Internally at the Council, where I then worked, Katherine consistently urged adoption of the program on the basis of the principle of fairness to writers. She was especially anxious to persuade representatives of the library community that PLR would not place an onerous burden on the shoulders and resources of librarians. She played a key role in helping design the program that was eventually adopted. Also reinforcing these efforts, and strengthening the federal government's resolve, was a recommendation in favour of adopting PLR by the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee, known as the Applebaum-Hebert Committee, which studied PLR and reported to the Trudeau government in 1982.

SHIRLEE SMITH MATHESON
At the time the PLR program was first being championed by Andreas Schroeder, I was employed by the Alberta Foundation for the Literary Arts (now under government auspices as Alberta Foundation for the Arts). I clearly recall Andreas coming to Calgary to discuss the program with local writers and organizations. The wondrous proposal was successful, and soon my first cheque arrived, around $55. I immediately bought a pair of red pumps. The annual stipend has increased substantially over the years with my additional published titles, and funding through Canada Council. The cheque received each February indeed “pumps up” my and other writers’ annual income. We annually think of Andreas and his work to kick-start the program, and The Writers Union of Canada who assigns various committees to ensure its continuity, for their efforts on our behalf. So, thank you, everyone!

CAROL BENNETT MCCUAIG
I'm the author of fifty published books, many of which are in Canadian libraries. Making a living as a writer in this country is difficult, so my income from the PLR is greatly appreciated.

KEN MCGOOGAN
WHAT PLR HAS MEANT TO ME . . .
Every February, on the TWUC listserve, you could watch the excitement sweep the country. The PLR cheques are mailed from Ottawa, and first sighting would usually happen in Quebec: “The PLR Bird has arrived in Montreal.” Next day, we might hear from mid-country: “The Big Bird has turned up in Winnipeg.” I remember this from when I was living in Calgary, and third day, I myself might add: “The PLR Bird has landed in the Big West.” The amount involved might be modest. Certainly, if you had only one or two books, as I did, it would be. But that wasn’t the point. The arrival of the cheque represented — and continues to represent — recognition and belonging. Yes, what you do is important. Yes, you are making a contribution. And, yes, you belong. You belong to what Margaret Laurence called The Tribe. You are one of us. Here is a token that says so. Long may you run.

SYLVIA MCNICOLL
When I dreamed about being a writer, I never thought about money. Surely the name on the cover of books earned fortune as well as fame. I worked hard at my craft, getting a degree in English, taking writing courses, attending workshops and finally writing my first novel. It took four mailouts to place, which wasn’t bad according to other writers’ stories. Then I received my first contract in the mail and in scrutinizing the details found the publisher hadn’t marked down any advance. Not even the $400 we had agreed upon. My negotiating tactic was to call up the editor and burst into tears and he wrote it back in.

I asked him how to earn a living on that and he explained that the advance would be sold through quickly and I would go on to write more books and they would all continue to earn for me… even in theory it didn’t sound good. But I wanted to believe, had to really. I couldn’t change my dream.

The book went on to sell film options and foreign rights to five countries, and still no fame and very little fortune.

Public Lending Rights kicked in and I earned an amount equivalent to that $400 advance my first year.

I’ve gone on to write over 25 books under a variety of names and for other countries. But I’ve learned along the road that I must cobble together an income from teaching, visiting schools and libraries, giving workshops, judging contests, writing articles, editing and finally writing novels. Lately, I have had to add blogging and twittering and writing facebook teasers to the mix in order to promote the novels.

I still love writing and have learned to enjoy all the cobbling side careers. Still I have a financial spreadsheet where I try to predict where my next mortgage payment will come from, some months even the grocery funds. The slings and arrows of outrageous lack of fortune carries with it stress, the enemy of creativity and the arts.

But February is one month I don’t have to worry. It’s the time of year when having over 20 books published in Canada means something. I can see that every library in Canada has my work on its shelf. To me that means fame. I earn the top dollar allowed through the program. My mortgage, groceries, phone, Internet and maybe even my gasoline bills all are covered. That’s fortune. It’s how every month of the year should be for a full time writer. February is a dream month because of Public Lending Rights.

Thank you.

CHRISTOPHER MOORE
I was new to the union then and pretty sceptical about this “payment for public use/public lending right” thing the newsletter was always promoting. I wasn’t sure of the principle, doubted it would ever happen, figured even if it did we would get maybe ten bucks each tops.

I was at the AGM when the minister responsible for launching PLR got a standing ovation and Andreas Schroeder was carried round the room on members’ shoulders. Even the first year, I got a decent-sized cheque. And it struck me how much I was benefitting from a lot of other writers’ hard work. So to start putting back in, I volunteered for a union committee, and I’ve been doing stuff for and with the union ever since.

ERNA PARIS
The adoption of PLR gave me the sense that my work counted even when my royalty statements suggested otherwise. I love libraries (hmmm, the delicious smell of mouldy paper in the stacks), and I enjoy the company of other browsers. I also appreciate being paid. PLR brought all of this together for the first time.

HEATHER ROBERTSON
I recall that the most passionate advocate for the creation of PLR was novelist Marian Engel. She did not live long enough to reap the rewards that others have. If my memory hasn't failed me, I'd love to see a tribute to Marian.

Love those February cheques!

REBECCA ROSENBLUM
I am now the proud recipient of two Public Lending Right cheques. Though I appreciate the money (very much) the best part of PLR for me is feeling so official, so professional, so much a writer when I receive the cheques and statements. It’s glorious to know that my book is out there, sitting on shelves with other books, being taken down and examined, being read — and the PLR statements offer quantified evidence of that. They also connect me with all the other writers who are doing this same work — my colleagues in writing, all going to their mailboxes on the same day and pulling out the same envelope. I’m so proud to be among them, and grateful to PLR for making me feel included and accounted for.

GARRY RYAN
The income I make through writing is the sweetest money I make. Thank you for the PLR cheques.

ROBERT EDISON SANDIFORD
A couple smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz's, pocket money for travelling, good Riesling with The Mrs, printer ink cartridges and paper, doctors' or dentists' visits, Writers' Union of Canada dues, shoes for my daughter, recognition of my contribution to Canadian arts and culture — a moment more to worry less about these things and simply write: this is what PLR has meant to me since my first cheque from the Commission in February 1998, and I remain grateful for the continued service and support.

LARRY SCANLAN
I am deeply grateful for PLR payments over the years. I always put the money aside, and this year I finally spent it — on plastic surgery.

Don't you think they did a nice job? That's me below, on the left, before surgery. On the right is the new me.

DONNA SINCLAIR
Public Lending Right is a welcome source of income for those in-between years when I don’t produce a book. I am a loyal library-user myself, so the PLR cheque also strikes me as a fair way to compensate an author (like me) for the book-borrowing practices of members of the public (like me) who can’t buy every one of many hundreds of books they would like. One more important thing: the day the PLR payment arrives is the day an author who is absolutely mired in a manuscript receives a boost of confidence that is as valuable as the money.

BONITA SLUNDER
PLR reaffirms that my books are in libraries ... LIBRARIES! Holy crap!
Might seem silly but PLR reminds me annually that as a novelist, I once had a dream — I wanted to be able to say, "yes, you can find my books in libraries." And even in this day and age, when I actually make a decent living as a writer in Canada (although it's for a foreign government and it's mostly speeches and diplomatic notes), I still celebrate my PLR payments as I have for more than 10 years. The amount is barely enough for pizza and beer but that matters not. To me, receiving PLR is like an honorary degree and every year I relive a happy convocation. Thanks TWUC and PLR, and happy anniversary!

DAVID LEWIS STEIN
In the very early days, when talk about getting money for library usage seemed a preposterous dream. I was writing editorials at the Star when it got under way and the editorial page editor at the time, George Radwanski, used to rail against it. So I am profoundly grateful to Andreas and the people who hung in and saw it through. Over the years, I have found the PLR cheque always seems to arrive at just the moment when I need it most.

PATTI STREN
a little LOVE LETTER to PLR from Patti Stren from New York City.

PLR has meant so much to me all these 25 years, 17 books and 3 short animated films later. As a child in my small town of Brantford, Ontario, I dreamed of being special. Years later I started my writing and drawing career by illustrating my best friend, Rosemary Allison's, books for the small press — Flying Rabbit. Then, I was discovered by Harper & Row's famous editor Elizabeth Gordon in New York City. And then I was discovered a second time by Emilie Mcleod of Little Brown Company Co., Boston, and then a third time by Andrea Cascardi at Crown Books/Random House all the while receiving checks from PLR. I could reminisce forever about my experience of 35 years in Children's Literature with my books and 25 years of receiving checks from PLR. The checks reminded me that my books were being read by children and that they were actually making a difference. But the checks were all the more important coming from PLR since I was alone, away from home, a Canadian writer, artist, animation designer in NYC. So what was it like to be a small town girl from Brantford in New York City? Exciting and often very lonely. But every year, I'd receive that check from the PUBLIC LENDING LIBRARY like a little LOVE LETTER. And I would imagine a child's parent in a library somewhere in Canada — taking my book out. I'd see that child touching the pages and entering a world I had created as if it were real. And this made me feel very special. I realized I could grow as a writer and illustrator with the support and love of PLR Love. And, because of this I could put even more love into my children's books. It is an unending circle which never stops from my pen to paper to parent to librarian to children touching pages to PLR sending me another love letter each year.

Now I want to furiously thank PLR for allowing me to rest my cheek on blank papers and think and imagine more worlds to step into. Then I pick up my pen.

AUDREY THOMAS
I was writer-in-Residence in Ottawa at the time that PLR was formally announced. I can't remember where exactly this took place, but Flora MacDonald made the announcement. I believe someone was there representing Ontario and perhaps someone representing somewhere else, and I represented "the rest of Canada".

PS I was interviewed later and asked what I was going to do with the money, and I said I was going to get indoor plumbing. (A slight exaggeration, as we did have a bathtub and water in the kitchen, but were still using an outhouse. THAT was remedied by PLR.

ANN WALSH
Back in the 1980s, on the main street of a restored gold rush town (Barkerville, BC.) a wise man said to me, "You really should join The Union, luv. We're working to get paid for the use of our books in libraries.

When PLR became a reality (and after more nagging from my bearded mentor) I joined TWUC. I'm still here.

Thank you Robin Skelton. Thank you Andreas and everyone who worked to make PLR a reality.

ELIZABETH WATERSON
What PLR has meant to me:

In years when I have not received royalties, the PLR cheque is a heartening token that the government of Canada (though very indirectly) supports published writers. It also indicates to the income tax department that I am in business, and can deduct my year’s expenses as a writer.

IRENE N. WATTS
Last year I fractured my hip, and now wear a ‘life line ‘button, which summons help in an emergency.

What has this got to do with PLR? Everything:

For twenty five years PLR has served as a life line to the writing community even in the darkest times of rejection slips, financial worries, manuscript problems and isolation.

The books do get written and even when no longer found in book stores, PLR reminds us that they are still there to be read in Libraries all over Canada. There is nothing more gratifying than to open the envelope and see how many ‘hits’ the books have garnered. The cheque is, of course, a wonderful bonus.

Thank you.

LYNN WESTERHOUT
I mostly write for younger folk, my books had nice reviews
But never did I keep my patient publishers in shoes.
The numbers game would make me weep, except the Commission said,
"Here is our poll, each time we checked, your books were being read!"

RUDY WIEBE
Every February since 1987 the PLR Summary and cheque have arrived in my mailbox. Into our cold winter comes the warm (and highly practical) greeting:

'Hello, writer. You have readers all across Canada.'

Once again, thank you!

DAVE WILLIAMSON
I am tremendously grateful to the PLR folks for their efficiency and to the libraries that continue to keep my books on their shelves. Long live the book!

I also think the timing of payment couldn't be better--after Christmas and a positive send-off to the new year.

BUDGE WILSON
WHAT PLR HAS MEANT TO ME:

The yearly PLR cheque represents a lot more than just money, Writers are not just underpaid. They are also often uncertain about the true worth of what they are doing with their lives. The book pictured here — Fractures (Penguin) —is a collection of "crossover" stories about dysfunctional families — cracked, but not necessarily always broken. Writers often feel cracked — by writer's block, by rejections, by fragile self-esteem, by low royalties. That PLR cheque tells us that we are not yet broken, that we are valued by libraries and their readers, that our work has worth.

I am 4 feet 8 inches tall. I feel small. I have thirty-three published books, a lot of good reviews, some nice awards, and a stunningly low income. Every year, the PLR payment gives me a chair to stand on. It makes me feel tall.

Thank you and Congratulations.

VALERIE WYATT
Thank you, Canada, for the Public Lending Right. It not only acknowledges the value and contribution of writers; it also inadvertently celebrates Canadians' vigorous use of our public libraries. The timing of the payment just before tax time is especially appreciated. Many years I have had to scramble to make tax payments, and PLR is a godsend. Other years, the money goes towards the purchase of necessities, such as new equipment. (Thank you for the photocopier!) But this year it went to a luxury — reinvigorating a garden bed that my office looks out onto. Or maybe it's not a luxury. The new patch of garden is a source of inspiration when writing and perspiration when distraction is needed. Come to think of it, PLR itself is like a garden, sending out shoots that bloom gloriously across the country.

BETTY JANE WYLIE
I'm so old, I was there when the first PLR was confirmed and the money was delivered, so I have never taken PLR for granted. What a solid, satisfying pleasure it was and is. For many, including me, and for many years, more often than not, the PLR payment stood between the writer and poverty, especially coming at the time it did, after Christmas, in the mid-winter depression. It gave us all incentive, to keep writing, and encouragement and hope and gratitude that others appreciated the work we had done.

June Callwood used to call her published books her pension plan. To most of us, that's what they are. I have never had a day job, therefore never had any benefits, no pension plan, nada. So the PLR is my pension plan, too.