CILIP is appealing for contributions to its Tsunami fund, which has been
set up to help rebuild library services in Sri Lanka. To donate, please
send a cheque payable to CILIP, with “Tsunami Fund” written on the back, to
Angela Frampton, CILIP, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE. The envelope
should be marked “Tsunami Fund”.

Following the Boxing day earthquake in the Indian Ocean, whole communities
have been wiped out, families bereaved and made homeless, and all the
facilities of day-to-day-life have been literally washed away. the tragedy
is compounded by the fact that it has affected some of the poorest
countries in the world.

The need for our help is as great as ever, as the people involved begin the
heart-breaking process of having to rebuild what had previously been so
carefully nurtured.

The figures for destruction and damage are unprecedented. Libraries may not
be top of the list for hard –pressed governments and aid agencies- but we
in this profession should make it our business to acknowledge the
importance of rebuilding services.

That’s why CILIP’s International Office is setting up a CILIP Tsunami Fund.
The monies raised will be used for development of LIS in Sri Lanka.

CILIP has been contacted by a number of individual CILIP members and groups
wanting to do something. Giving money is an important way in which CILIP
can help.

We need your support. CILIP Groups and Branches are especially encouraged
to consider ways of raising funds for the appeal.

The Fund is being set up as part of a strategy unanimously approved by
Council in February, which includes “acting as a conduit for financial
donations with a professional purpose.”

In addition, IFLA has called on the National Associations in the donor
countries, such as the UK, for help.

We have decided to focus the fund on Sri Lanka partly in response to
members, who have expressed a particularly strong concerns about that
country. It will build on pre-existing strong personal and institutional
links which CILIP has with the profession in Sri Lanka.

CILIP’s International Panel and International Office will oversee the fund,
which will be adminsitered by CILIP Finance Department. All the money will
go to those who need it. There will be no administrative charges.

The International Office will use international contacts and LIS expertise
to help ensure that funds go to the right people. And the International
office will undertake to keep members informed about how the money is
spent.

More : http://www.cilip.org.uk/default.cilip

Edited article which first appeared in Update April 2005.

Best wishes

Julie Robinson
International Officer