SURVIVAL FUND:THE REASONS WHY

Oct 13, 2026

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A message from Peter Martin, President of the Readers' Club, explains why the club faces a financial crisis and requests immediate, substantial support to ensure its continued existence and growth. It outlines how the club must partly follow American book-club standards while serving a smaller, more costly Canadian membership. Current operations cost about $2,000 per month with average revenues of about $1,500, depleting initial funds, though support is needed only until membership reaches 4,000 to 5,000.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time26 min

AccessFree to download

SURVIVAL FUND:THE REASONS WHY

Request for financial assistance

Cost vs. revenue and reorganization

Limited support period and future growth

Readers'Club Selection

The Great Hunger

2 SURVIVAL FUND:THE REASONS WHYPeter Martin 3 THE GREAT HUNGERby Cecil Woodham-Smith :reviewed by Robert Fulford 5 SKETCH BOOK:CANADIAN AND EUROPEAN SKETCHES by Tony Urquhart:reviewed by Doris Anderson 7 NINE PRINTS FROM B.C.a special alternate selection 8 VIEWS 9 AND REVIEWS My Uncle Joe:Innocence:Mass Media in Canada:MathematicalDiversions:The Uprooted15.7 12 CURRENT CHOICE/6 王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王王3 CoLuM1 UNIVER品ITYL1BPARIB THE MAY 171963 CANADIAN LIORARY SERVIGE LI总万▲RY READER MAY 1963 # SURVIVAL FUND:THE REASONS WHY IN RECENT DAYS,members of the Readers'Club have received aletter explaining that the continued existence of the Club was inperil and that only immediate and substantial financial supportcould ensure the Club's continued existence and growth.For manymembers,this letter undoubtedly came as something of a surprise—though some will no doubt have noticed a certain erratic qualityof the Club's services in recent weeks.I hope here to provide alittle background and to explain why the Club has come to needfinancial assistance and how such assistance will provide for theClub's survival and growth. The story is a very Canadian one.Standards for the services of-fered by book clubs have been established by the large Americanclubs.It has been necessary for the Readers'Club to go at leastpart way to conform to this pattern through such things as re-duced prices on Selections,no membership fees,the publication ofThe Canadian Reader and the creation and maintenance of ahighly trained office staff to meet the requirements of Club mem-bers.But where the large American clubs can distribute hundredsof thousands of books in a month,the Readers'Club,being Cana-dian,sends out fewer than two thousand.This means,inevitably,that our costs of providing books and services are much higherthan those of comparable clubs in the United States. The Readers'Club has about three thousand members now.Itcosts approximately $2,000 a month to operate the Club—andrevenues from the sale of books to members average around $1,500 per month.This has been the situation for some time.Theresult,of course,is that the money originally raised to establish theReaders'Club has been used up.Now,if the Club is to survive,additional funds must be found.This is why we are re-organizingthe Club's sponsoring agency as a non-profit corporation and areasking for contributions and assistance from a variety of sources,including Club members. The clouds overhead do have a silver lining.The Club will onlyneed financial assistance for a limited period.When membershiphas climbed to between four and five thousand persons,the Clubwill be self-supporting.Then the Club will be able to continue itsgrowth and to improve its services from its own resources. However,now is the testing time.I believe that the Club hasproved its worth—for its members,for the literary communityin Canada and indeed for the nation.If the Club members andother men of good will share this belief,then the financial supportwill be forthcoming to take us successfully through this difficultperiod.If not,then the Club will have to be written off as anotherexample of the penalty of being Canadian. PETER MARTIN,President Rec TH by rev We an kr th pl lo W a se ar E p THis tcalperpolZiofmoabtheprebuthehaWwaanThfaito m: # Readers'Club Selection THE GREAT HUNGER by CECIL WOODHAM-SMITH reviewed by ROBERT FULFORD THE MOST POPULAR TECHNIQUE of popular historians in our timeis the book which is constructed like an inverted pyramid.Typi-cally the historian or journalist begins with a single incident orpersonality and then slowly widens the construction to take in thepolitical and social life which surrounds the central fact.In TheZimmerman Telegram,Barbara Tuchman begins with the decodingof a message from the German foreign office in 1917 and thenmoves wider and wider until finally she has told us a great dealabout everything

FAQs

Why does the Readers' Club need immediate financial support?

The club’s continued existence is at peril because operating costs exceed revenues, exhausting the original funds used to establish the Readers' Club.

What factors make the club’s costs higher than comparable U.S. clubs?

The club must conform partly to American book-club service standards, yet as a Canadian club it sends out fewer books—under two thousand—so providing books and services costs more per member.

When will the Readers' Club become self-supporting?

Support is expected to be needed only until membership grows to between four and five thousand persons, at which point the club can fund its growth and improve services from its own resources.

Oct 13, 2026

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