The Center for Fiction
Strategic Plan Summary
2008 - 2010
Introduction
Our goal is to transform the Mercantile Library into the first literary center in the United States wholly devoted to the art of fiction. Over the next five years, we intend to establish our reputation within New York City and nationally as a Center for Fiction that is:
- a vibrant, welcoming place where readers can discover, enjoy, and discuss fiction
- a space where writers and readers can meet and talk about books with each other
- an organization bringing together established authors and publishing professionals who care about the future of fiction
- a resource and workplace, for emerging novelists and short story writers, and where all fiction writers can find a sense of community
- one of the finest circulating fiction libraries in America, where readers can find both classics and the freshest new writing
- the best information source and social networking site on the internet for anyone who loves fiction
It has become clear in recent years that the reading of literature is one of the most vital activities in a healthy society. As a recent report published by the National Endowment for the Arts put it, “reading is an irreplaceable activity in developing productive and active adults as well as healthy communities.” Not only are books one of the great and sustaining pleasures in life (and one of the most easily accessible to rich and poor, young and old): studies consistently show that literary readers are markedly more engaged than non-readers in their communities, and participate more in activities ranging from artistic events to sports to volunteering. Furthermore, the telling of stories is fundamental to who we are as human beings and the novel and short story are clearly among the highest manifestations of this impulse.
That’s why the Mercantile Library has chosen to reinvent itself. We believe that there is an urgent need for a Center for Fiction, a place uniquely focused on celebrating and nurturing the reading and writing of imaginative literature. We think it’s important not only here in New York, but nationally as well. At present, according to the New York State Council on the Arts, there are fewer than 20 non-profit organizations in New York City devoted exclusively to literature. Of these, none is devoted primarily to fiction. The most prestigious and active organizations are either centers for poetry like Poets House, writer service organizations like PEN International or Poets & Writers; organizations devoted to building literacy; or small presses.
Fifteen years ago, the poetry community in the United States rallied to support the reading and writing of poetry when they felt the art form was endangered. Their work has resulted in national campaigns bringing new readers to poetry as well as the creation of poetry centers all across the United States that support poets and their readers. While it may be a stretch to imagine a Novelist Laureate, it is our intent over time to have the same impact on the health and vibrancy of literary fiction in America as these tireless advocates of poetry have had on that genre.
It’s true that this is a large vision, but it’s one we’re devoted to because it is so vitally important.
Imagine our Center for Fiction here in New York City, a place full of activity throughout the year: with dozens of discussion groups reading everything from Proust to mystery novels; with readings and talks by celebrated authors as well as emerging new talents; with writers working in a beautiful new Writers Studio and socializing; with mentoring programs that bring published authors together with budding young writers; and with awards and activities that call public attention to outstanding books and that recognize the publishing professionals who keep fighting the good fight to make sure that great fiction continues to be published.
We also believe that a literary center for the 21st century needs to embrace new technology to reach beyond its walls. Imagine our Center for Fiction on the internet, a magnet for fiction lovers anywhere in America, or the world: a site with book recommendations, audio and video interviews with writers from around the world, online reading groups, and Facebook-style networking and discussion boards where readers can share their passions. We hope within five years to make our internet presence the first stop for anyone interested in fiction, whether they’re looking for a new book to read or a place to spread the word about a writer they love.
The Mercantile Library has been a part of New York’s and the nation’s cultural life since 1820. It has hosted such authors as William Makepeace Thackeray, Frederick Douglass, and Mark Twain. The merchants who founded the Library so their clerks could improve themselves held a very American idea—that access to books was important for everyone, not just the wealthy. Literature was the great equalizer in that young democracy. These ideals endured through the Civil War, the Great Depression, and two World Wars, and while the Library moved from Wall Street to Astor Place to its current home on East 47th Street. Today, we are planning a move to a new home and a leap into cyberspace. But in creating a Center for Fiction to serve twenty-first century readers, we are only building on and extending our original mission, which has become more vital than ever.
About This Plan
The plan is based on the direction and priorities that emerged in the feasibility study conducted by an outside consultancy firm in 2007. In the study, over 85 readers, writers and publishing professionals as well as directors of literary non-profits, and program officers at government agencies and foundations that fund the literary arts were interviewed to determine whether a cultural organization devoted to fiction would fill an unmet need. The answer was yes.
The key recommendations of the report were presented to the Board of the Mercantile Library at a retreat on June 7, 2007. At that retreat, the Board agreed on the direction the organization should take and its priorities for the next three years. They concluded that the Mercantile Library should: (1) Change its name and mission statement to emphasize its focus on fiction and its intent to become not simply a library, but rather a cultural center that includes a library; (2) Continue to serve current readers, but also work to develop new readers; (3) Provide workspace, services and a sense of community to writers; (4) Move to a facility that would better serve its 21st century needs; (5) Extend its reach nationally through an improved website and an array of internet-based services to readers and writers; and (6) Develop clear objectives and timelines to accomplish its goals.
The strategic and operating plan outlined in this document is intended to accomplish these goals and serve as a road map for the Mercantile Library’s transformation into the vibrant new Center for Fiction.
New Mission Statement
The Center for Fiction is dedicated to celebrating and supporting the creation and enjoyment of fiction. The Center utilizes all its resources, including its renowned circulating collection, its public spaces and innovative programming, and new technology, including the internet, to engage the reading public and build a larger audience for fiction. The Center serves as a vibrant meeting place where readers and writers come together to share their passion for literature, and where writers can work, exchange ideas and find community.
Operating Plan Objectives
The Operating Plan divides the transition into three phases. In brief, the phases are as follows:
Phase One: January- June 2008:
We will complete the sale of our current building; locate and purchase a new site; commence design of the new Center; locate temporary space pending buildout of the new home; provide for continued member services, Writers’ Studio access, and public programs in the interim; weed the book collection and move our catalogue into internet-accessible format; begin planning for capital fundraising campaign.
Phase Two: July 2008-December 2009
We will complete renovation of the new building; continue programs and member services as in Phase One; commence public-relations effort and membership drive focusing on our new location; continue fundraising; launch the new Center for Fiction website.
Phase Three: January-December 2010
We will hold a gala opening in our new location; expand member services and programming with all activities back under one roof; add new content and function to the website and begin major online publicity and marketing for the website and Center; conclude the development campaign.
Programs and Services in Our New Building
For Readers: Providing a place for avid readers to take part in lively conversation about books is at the heart of what we do. As the new Center for Fiction, the organization will continue to serve these readers, but also will reach out to infrequent readers and new readers as well. The goal is to interest more people, especially younger people, in reading fiction.
In our new facility, we plan to have much more space for book groups and seminars. During our feasibility study, we found that readers in New York City are interested in these kinds of lifelong learning opportunities and that this could be a significant growth area for us. To attract lapsed or infrequent readers and build our memberships, the Center also will continue to do the kinds of public programming exemplified by our current Big Read project, which is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and done in collaboration with Grand Central Partnership. To develop new readers, we will create programming targeting families with young children. Parent/child reading groups, Rewards for Reading programs, children’s writing workshops in which kids make their own picture books, are just a few of the ways we might interest children in reading.
Each year since the 1825, the Mercantile Library has presented public programs. In the recent past, Richard Howard has talked about Proust, Cynthia Ozick about Henry James, and we have had a very successful series on the art of translation. Edmund White, David Leavitt, and Joyce Carol Oates are just a few of the writers who have read here. We have also developed partnerships with literary magazines to feature the work of emerging fiction writers. With the creation of an auditorium and a café in our new space, we will have two dedicated areas for public programming and the opportunity for both formal and informal public events. With new technology in place in these spaces, we will have the ability to create video and audiotapes of our programs.
For Writers: Though the Mercantile Library has always offered desk space to writers, and writers from Edgar Allan Poe to Jonathan Franzen have created work here, it has not thought of writers as a part of its constituency in any meaningful way beyond that. To determine whether this should become an important part of our mission, we examined existing services to writers at other organizations and talked to both emerging and well-established writers of fiction. Were fiction writers already well enough served in New York City and nationally or could we do more to reach out and ensure that the new Center for Fiction would be a resource and home for them? We surveyed and/or spoke with writers, both locally and nationally, using the criteria presented in Creativity: a Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists, published by The Urban Institute in 2003.
What we found is that there is a clear need for a writers’ program that can provide services to emerging and mid-career writers. Writers need not only concrete help like work space, group health insurance, publishing courses, and opportunities for readings, mentoring, networking and targeted publicity. In fact, during the feasibility study, the most important unmet need voiced by local writers was for community--a meeting place to work, interact with one another, and provide each other with professional support.
The overarching aim of the writers programs at the new Center for Fiction will be to provide a suite of programs and services that give writers that sense of community and also provide targeted types of support. Our goal is to make a difference to fiction writers at critical points in their careers. Some programs (writing and publishing programs, writers space, health insurance, grants to writers, and opportunities to teach and read) could self-fund or be covered by membership fees. Others will require foundation or government support.
Beyond Bricks and Mortar
Our goal as the new Center for Fiction is to create an on-line experience that is analogous to the experience members have on-site. This means entering the Web 2.0 arena online, with significantly increased interactivity that will replicate the kinds of conversations and programs that take place in our building every day. The long term objective is to develop a national and perhaps even international community of fiction readers and writers.
Readers we spoke with or surveyed were most eager to find a site where (1) they could find unbiased book recommendations and (2) they would have an opportunity to connect to other readers. We also found that there is also a dearth of quality materials for books groups. Book publishers offer summaries of books including book group materials on their websites, but again, these sites remain relatively untrafficked by readers. There are book discussion forums and groups through Yahoo, Barnes & Noble, publisher sites and independent sites, but as a whole these sites remain relatively unpromoted and unknown. What readers who participated in the feasibility study wanted were online book groups that could recreate the feeling of an in-person group, that is, groups with ongoing members and the possibility that conversations could deepen over time.
To meet this need, the Center will host monitored reading groups and will provide reading group tools and a forum for readers to start their own groups. To address the need for reading recommendations, the site will include recommendations that will come both from the Center’s staff and from various outside sources and will be organized to facilitate browsing. Individual recommendations will be layered with links to reviews from a variety of sources. The Center will also provide recommendations for previously published works by area of as well as lists of award winners.
The question of what services can be offered to writers online is more difficult. The Mercantile Library has a long history of serving readers and, as a result, the Center can accurately predict what readers want online. While the feasibility study identified many needs that writers have, the sense of which of these might be best served online will evolve as we increase our services to writers on site. This section could include a downloadable author site development tool to allow authors to create their own sites with photos, biography, publications history, awards, audio and video files of readings, links to reviews, etc. This was a common request by writers during the feasibility study. The Center could also provide easy to use pod-casting tool for authors to create podcasts for their sites and for placement on the Center’s website.
The Collection
Our book holdings constitute one of New York’s cultural treasures: one of the finest circulating collections of fiction in the country. Increasing readers’ access to our books is a key goal in our transition. In our new location, for the first time, we will open all our book stacks for browsing by members. We will also put our entire book catalogue into a computer database accessible via the internet, so that members can find and reserve books and suggest purchases from their own computers and so that readers anywhere, including non-members, can discover our collection. We will explore the possibility of making electronic books or print-on-demand titles available to members, in keeping with our belief that a 21st-Century literary center must make use of new technologies.
During the planning process we explored what it might mean to enhance access in the 21st century and whether it is simply a matter of focusing on quality, not quantity and providing on-line catalogs and search engines and databases. In a museum setting, for example, a tightly curated permanent collection serves as the basis for special programming, lectures, and exhibitions. Curators feature parts of the collection in innovative exhibitions that help to introduce patrons to the depth and breadth of the museum’s collection. We envision a similar role for our librarians, working closely with programming staff. We also envision a much greater emphasis both on-line and on-site on the readers’ advisory work our librarians excel at now. The ability to understand members’ interests and to recommend books that not only suit each reader, but also might broaden their tastes, it one of the finer arts of librarianship. The more emphasis we place on this and the more tools and time we provide our librarians to do this work, the more we will set ourselves apart from larger, more impersonal institutions.
Facilities
The Clinton Hall Association, the supporting organization of the Mercantile Library, entered into contract to sell the building on East 47th Street on August 25, 2007. It did so at the request of the Mercantile Library Association, whose Board reported that in its current state the building was poorly configured to meet the needs of a library: the basements floors are inadequate for book storage; the reading room is limited in the number of people it can hold for public events; the number of places that people can meet in small groups limits the number of programs which can be offered to both readers and writers, and, overall, the building is suffering from deferred maintenance and is not up to code for the envisioned uses of the new Center for Fiction. Even with a costly renovation, estimated at over $6 million, these issues could only be partially resolved. In addition, if these renovations were undertaken, the building would still be located in a part of town without nightlife or a significant residential neighborhood.
During the transition period, The Center has arranged for members to be able to use the circulating collection at the New York Society Library on 79th Street until the opening of the new facilities. The Center will conduct reading groups and public events at the General Society Library on 44th Street and from locations to be determined as we cement partnerships with other organizations.
In the new building, we will need an estimated 14,000 to18,000 square feet, with an emphasis on spaces for interaction and public programming, rather than book storage. Ideally, the new location will be south of 23rd Street, with easy access to transportation, with a nearby upscale, residential community, and on a street with foot traffic and night-life. The space plan, prepared by Gluckman-Mayner Architects, provides space for a more focused book collection as well as space to function as a cultural center with a full range of programming and as a writers center.
Conclusion
As this plan details, to create the new Center for Fiction will require a radical re-envisioning of our institution on every level and a willingness to take a series of bold steps over the next three years. To merge the texts and traditions of our print past and the technologies of our web future is only part of the challenge. We must also embrace innovation across all our programs and services. At the heart of our work is the strong belief that we can have the best of both worlds, that is, we can honor our rich history and, at the same time, move forward to become a dynamic and innovative literary arts organization with a great deal to offer to fiction readers and writers.
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