Donors

Home » Donate » Donors

Honouring with Books

Photos: Rheal Doucette OPL/BPO

Jack Galbraith’s generous donation of books to the library, in honour of his wife, Audrey, was recognized with a beautiful book display at the Elmvale Acres library.

 

Sitting across from Jack Galbraith in the Elmvale Acres library, it’s clear that he is at home in the friendly little branch. Staff members talk with him candidly, and speak fondly of Mr. Galbraith, who has become a regular at this location, passing along his copy of the Sunday New York Times for others’ enjoyment every week. A four page list of books donated in his wife’s name hangs on a bulletin board, available for patrons to peruse, and a stack of current novels bearing an in memoriam bookplate sit on the table in front of him. Mr. Galbraith points to a table where the books he donated were specially displayed to honour his wife, and he proudly states that the display had to be replaced by another grouping of books shortly after it was created because the novels from his collection were in such high demand library users started borrowing them right away.

When his wife of 61 years deceased in August of 2010, Mr. Galbraith was stricken with grief. The loss of his beloved partner, Audrey, weighed too heavily on him to celebrate her life when her funeral was held. Her funeral was, Mr. Galbraith shared, “very traditional and dignified,” but it was not the memorial service he would have liked it to be. “I felt badly that I hadn’t been able to pay a better tribute to her,” Mr. Galbraith confided, “In subsequent weeks, feelings of not having done enough to honour Audrey added to my grief.”

And so, as time went on, Jack Galbraith sought ways to honour his wife. “Audrey had always been a charitable person,” but had no favourite cause so her husband gave to charities that he felt she would have supported. After donating funds to a handful of non-profits, Mr. Galbraith wanted to do more to honour his wife. “We had been setting aside money for our next travel,” he explained, “We had money left over so I was thinking, ‘What else can I do?’”

In search of a way to memorialize Audrey, Mr. Galbraith returned to the funeral home that had handled his wife’s ceremony and asked for advice. The funeral director showed him a rack of pamphlets and suggested he look for something that fit Audrey’s lifestyle. It was then that Mr. Galbraith saw a pamphlet that read, “Honour with books.”

“The idea of having books in the library bearing Audrey’s name on a nice bookplate immediately struck a chord,” Mr. Galbraith shared. Audrey had been a voracious reader and a lover of choice fiction. She would scrutinize the New York Times Sunday Book Review, reading through its extensive list of novels and making notes to read those that appealed to her. Mr. Galbraith made a donation through the Ottawa Public Library Foundation’s Memorial Gift program to purchase books that would have appealed to his wife: “She kept notes of what she read, so I went by her notes to discover her tastes.” He only asked that the books be selected based on Audrey’s preferences, and that they be held at his local library branch, Elmvale Acres.

A few months after making his donation, the Elmvale library put 33 books into circulation. The Branch’s Public Service Assistant, Debbie-Ann Davis called Mr. Galbraith to let him know the books had come in and invited him over to see them while he could because they were being taken out as soon as they came in.

When Mr. Galbraith visited the library, Debbie mentioned that she’d like to put together a display of the books donated in Audrey’s name. He was so touched by the gesture that he decided to make another donation so 85 books would bear his wife’s name, one for each year of her life. By August all of the books had arrived.

Fortuitously, the Elmvale Acres library was able to create a display of Audrey’s books on the first anniversary of her death. Mr. Galbraith, his two children John and Jane, neighbours and friends, and representatives of the Ottawa Public Library Foundation attended the event to honour Audrey. The titles selected proved to be popular; nearly all of them were checked out of the library within
a couple of weeks. Mr. Galbraith was delighted, saying it was “heart-warming… to see that the money donated for honour books obviously met a very strong public demand for good literature.”

Now Mr. Galbraith visits his local library weekly, to add his newspaper to the collection “and to see how the books are doing.” He no longer feels he hasn’t honoured his late wife. Through his donation he has created a legacy for Audrey.  Her books are changing hands and touching the hearts of many readers. It’s easy to imagine fans of her books requesting novels from Audrey’s collection by name. Upon reflection, her husband affirmed, “No better way could have been found to bring solace and comfort to our bereaved family than to have Audrey’s books out on loan.”

Thank you to all our donors.

 

Donations of $50 or $100

Most donations received by the Foundation are for $50 or $100. Here’s what some of our donors have to say.

Paula

Paula sends out donation cards rather than thank-you cards, birthday cards and other cards for special family events. “At our age we don’t need to give gifts to each other any more. It just seems right to make a donation to the Ottawa Public Library Foundation instead. A gift card is sent on your behalf and you receive a tax receipt for your donation.”

Leslie

“I am a frequent user of our local library. My daughter has a learning disability and the availability of books means so much to us. We are happy to make a regular donation to the Foundation.”

Patrick

“The library is very important to me, especially the fact that you get books for free.”

Roland

“I will gladly give again whenever you send a request in the mail.”

Donations of $1,000 or more

June and Lori have something in common: both are senior women who love their library and want to make sure that programs and services not covered by the regular budget continue to be funded.

Lori

“I have made it my personal pledge in the past three years to donate to the Foundation so that the Library has funds it needs to carry on the good works it does.”

June

“I want children today to learn to read, and I don’t think they are getting enough in school. The library is an important free source of books.”

The Leacross Foundation gift of $20,000

The Leacross Foundation has become a regular donor to the Foundation, last year donating $10,000 for Teen zones and this year donating $20,000 for early children’s literacy. Roslyn Bern, president of the Leacross Foundation, is no stranger to the library and its needs. “I used to be a teacher, so depending upon which school I was working at, I was at the library associated with that area.”

The Laishley Estate gift of $814,000

Mrs. Evelyne Laishley bequeathed $814,000, the single largest gift in the history of the Foundation, to support children’s programs at the Ottawa Public Library. The donation has been endowed, and the interest earned will help fund youth related services at the Library. Evelyne E Laishley passed away peacefully at the age of 95 on May 13, 2008. She was an avid reader and generous benefactor to many organizations, especially in the areas of health care, literacy and children’s causes.

This content is also available in: French