Tolkien Centre Proposal Document

The Tolkien Centre Proposal

March 1998

This is the original Tolkien Centre Proposal document. Some of its contents is now out of date, but its concepts are still applicable.

Foreword

What is a Proposal?

It is a document which is provided for potential partners, funders and supporters of a project. These would include Local Authorities, charitable bodies, trusts, Lottery funders, business, and so on.

It aims:

to outline the aims of the project,
to establish the credibility of the Tolkien Society, particularly its governing body and those who will be most actively involved with the project
to establish the financial viability of the project, both start-up costs and ongoing costs.

Because the project is, at the moment, quite flexible (e.g. no town or building has been identified) the Proposal is necessarily incomplete. For example, no details are given of the sizes of proposed spaces, and no figures are given for any of the financial headings.

Who wrote this proposal?

It is based upon the work of a group of Tolkien Society members who met regularly to discuss the project in the early 1990s. It has been written by Pat Reynolds, Trevor Reynolds, Chris Crawshaw and Richard Crawshaw. We welcome comments on the Proposal.

Summary of Proposal

The Tolkien Centre will have three main elements, plus minor elements:

Major elements:

A research library, based upon the existing Tolkien Society Archives.
A permanent exhibition celebrating the life and work of Tolkien.
A temporary exhibition area.

Minor elements:

Support space
Meeting rooms/performance space/teaching space
Shop
Cafe
Garden

The Tolkien Centre will:

educate the general public in the life and works of Tolkien
support research into Tolkien by providing enhanced access to the archives
promote communication between scholars and others who have an interest in Tolkien
promote literacy, and stimulate interest in literature in general, especially Fantasy literature

The Tolkien Society is a registered charity. It is run by elected trustees and appointed officers, all of whom are volunteers. The elected trustees are the officers of the management committee. The appointed officers are selected by the management committee to assist in the running in specific areas of the society.

It is envisaged that the project would be managed by a sub-committee of The Tolkien Society, as allowed for in the Society's constitution, and the Tolkien Centre would be run by a dedicated Trust or Charitable Company wholly owned by The Tolkien Society. Should the Tolkien Centre be a joint venture the management of the project and the organisation of the Trust or Company would need to reflect the interests of all the partners.

Background

The Tolkien Society was formed in 1969/70 by Vera Chapman, herself an author, who felt that too much of the publicity then associated with Tolkien's name, was connected to the farther-out fringes of hippiedom and thus unrepresentative of the great majority of his readership, and that he deserved something better.

On June 27^th 1972 Vera Chapman had the pleasure of meeting J.R.R. Tolkien himself at a sherry party at his publisher's offices. He agreed to become the Honorary President of the Society, a post which, after his death, his family agreed that he should hold in perpetuo.

The society publishes an annual journal, Mallorn, and a bimonthly newsletter, Amon Hen, and occasional extra publications, such as Seminar proceedings, by means of the Peter Roe Memorial Fund.
Both a Lending Library and an Archive are maintained.
Annual General Meetings precede the Annual Dinner, at which Guest Speakers have included Rayner Unwin, Michael and Priscilla Tolkien, Humphrey Carpenter, Tom Shippey, Rob Inglis and A. N. Wilson.
The Society's annual 'Oxonmoot', held in Oxford, usually in late September, is a popular complement to the AGM. Oxonmoot began in 1974, the year after Tolkien's death, when it was felt that there should be an occasion for laying a wreath from the Society on the Professors' grave. There have also been 'Summermoots' and, in recent years, the more scholarly Seminars.
Local Society groups, or 'smials,' are encouraged, and serve as the settings for much of the social side of the Society, as is contact with overseas Tolkien-related groups.
In 1992, to celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien's centenary the Society joined forces with the American Mythopoeic Society to organise the 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference at Keble College, Oxford. The Proceedings from the conference were jointly published by the two societies in 1996.
For most of the 1990s the Society has actively pursued its aim of establishing a Tolkien Memorial Centre, later just referred to as a Tolkien Centre. Various locations have been explored, including Thame and Bournemouth.
In 1997 the Society established a Trading Company to handle all of its sales and merchandising.

The Project

Main Elements

The Tolkien Centre will have three main elements^*:

A research library, containing all editions and all textual variations in Tolkien's published works, all translations into Foreign Languages, all adaptations into other media, as much as possible of the response of fandom, as much as possible of the critical response, and microfilms of manuscript collections held by other institutions. This collection will be based upon the existing Tolkien Society Archives.
A permanent exhibition celebrating the life and work of Tolkien
A temporary exhibition area, for changing displays focusing on different aspects of Tolkien's life or work, his contemporaries, his precursors and followers, or using Tolkien's works to explore an area of the National Curriculum.

* The three main elements are listed in order of priority, should the first Tolkien Centre only be of a size to accommodate one or two of them.

Other Elements

There will also be:

Support spaces (e.g. offices, toilets). If the Tolkien Centre is nested within another institution, some or all support facilities might be provided by the wider institution.

There may also be:

Meeting room or rooms (perhaps sharing their function with an exhibition area), possibly available for hire, possibly doubling as a performance space and/or as a teaching space.
Café
shop
- Sales items could include books, souvenirs, teaching materials
- The Tolkien Society has a Limited Company trading subsidiary

The Tolkien Garden

The Tolkien Society Management Committee has recently received a proposal from a member of the Society for the establishment of a Tolkien Garden.

The Management Committee supports this idea in principle, but the Tolkien Centre has a higher priority.

Location of the Tolkien Centre

The Centre must be accessible by public transport.
The Centre should preferably be in a town or area with a Tolkien connection.
A house where Tolkien lived is considered to be the ideal building.
As a second choice, a good case can be made for a new building (new buildings provide better conditions for archives, and it is easier to provide good services, and access for people with disabilities is easier to build in).
An equally good case can be made, as a second choice, for an historic building (more in keeping with Tolkien's sensibilities, possibly attracting more funding).

Ownership and Status of the Tolkien Centre Building

Ownership in descending order of preference:

sole occupier
our own part of a building (with all services, including entrances separate)
a part of a building with shared services

Preferred status in descending order of preference:

freehold
leasehold/rented from a preferred institution, such as a local authority, university or other charity with similar aims. This could include a peppercorn rent, or space donated, perhaps under a service level agreement.
other leasehold or rented accommodation.

The Tolkien Centre and the Aims of the Tolkien Society

The Centre will

educate the general public in the life and works of Tolkien
support research into Tolkien by providing enhanced access to the archives
promote communication between scholars and others who have an interest in the Tolkien
promote literacy, and stimulate interest in literature in general, especially Fantasy literature

Link to the constitution of the Tolkien Society.

Estimated life of the project

The life-span of the project is largely a factor of size: the more room for growth, the longer it will last.

The Tolkien Society Archive Collection is held by the Society with the presumption that it will be preserved in perpetuity.

The Market

The Tolkien Centre is for:

Tolkien Society members
researchers, in the widest sense: not solely those affiliated to academic institutions, but also private individuals and informal groups who wish to pursue their own lines of enquiry
tourists (Tolkien is widely read across Europe and North America - there are Tolkien Societies Canada, the USA, in all but four EU states, and in most of the states applying to join the EU)
and local people.

Management

The Governing Body

The Tolkien Society is a registered charity and is run by elected trustees and appointed officers. The elected trustees are the officers of the management committee. The appointed officers are appointed by the management committee to assist in the running in specific areas of the society.

The Governing Body - Achievements

The Tolkien Society has co-run, with the Mythopoeic Society of the USA, The 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference, a medium sized academic and social conference to celebrate the centenary of Professor J.R.R. Tolkien CBE. The Conference was held in Keble College, Oxford, in August 1992; it attracted nearly 400 attendees, including well known figures in the area of Tolkien studies and academic circles. The proceeding of the conference was co-edited and co-published with the Mythopoeic Society, running in excess of 400 pages, it was acclaimed as a major work of Tolkien research. The abstracts are attached as an Annexe.
To publicise itself The Tolkien Society mounted a large attendance at the most recent World Science Fiction Convention to be held in the UK.
In the last 18 months The Tolkien Society has set up a wholly-owned trading company to handle all of its merchandising. This has proved most successful - in its first year of operation a £1,200 operating profit was realised. The directors of the company are all trustees of the Society.

The Governing Body - Key Mangers

The Key Managers are mainly current trustees of the Tolkien Society.
They hold the elected posts of Chairman, Membership Secretary, Committee Member and the appointed post of Journal Production Editor. In addition, there is an Advisor from outside of the Society who maintains close links with the Society.
The Key Managers were all involved with organisation of The 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference and with the publicity at the World Science Fiction Convention.
They hold employed positions at Buckinghamshire County Museum as the Keeper of Social History, as Registrar of English Heritage, Software Engineer at NEC Technologies (UK) Ltd., Mobile Radio Division, and Science Technician at a LEA Secondary School.
The Advisor is a retired Secondary School teacher in Special Needs and Youth Worker, who has had recent experience with the Heritage industry, including Roman re-enactment, research and education.

Names and responsibilities of all members of the Governing Body.

The Governing Body - Experience with Voluntary Labour

All the Key Managers have had several years experience in working in the Voluntary sector, mainly in the various aspects in running the Tolkien Society. The Tolkien Society is an entirely voluntary society, with no paid staff.
The experience ranges from The 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference through organising the annual Society convention in Oxford to the day-to-day running of the Society. The annual convention is one of the longest continuously running conventions of its type in the UK.
One Key Manager and the Advisor have experience of working with volunteers in a commercial Heritage environment.

The Governing Body - Organizational Structure

Should the Tolkien Centre be a joint venture the management of the project and the organisation of the Trust or Company would need to reflect to be agreed with all the partners.

Financial Information

Figures for these items are not currently available, but this list is provided to delineate the relevant categories.

Set up costs

Preliminary costs
1. Market research
2. Grant preparation
Building
1. Acquisition
2. Refurbishment/backlog repairs
3. Adaptation and alterations
4. Installation of security and fire alarms
5. Upgrading to meet Fire and Health and Safety Requirements
6. Access for people with disabilities
7. Fitting out
8. IT infrastructure
9. Connection to Services
Exhibitions
1. Exhibition design
2. Exhibition costs
Purchase of equipment
1. Office equipment
2. Library equipment
3. Equipment for temporary displays
4. Equipment for meeting rooms/teaching area/performance area
5. Equipment for shop/cafe, etc.
Archive development
1. Cataloguing
2. Endowment for purchase fund
Garden
1. Hard landscaping
2. Landscaping
3. Plants

Ongoing Costs - Building

Annual
1. Business Rate
2. Water
3. Gas
4. Electricity
5. Telephone
6. Insurance (structure inc. public liability)
7. Fire alarm maintenance & monitoring
8. Security Alarm maintenance & monitoring
9. Fire extinguisher maintenance
10. Electrical appliance tests
11. Insurance (additional contents [i.e. not archives])
12. Consumables (light bulbs, toilet rolls, washers)
13. Cleaning (inc. materials)
Periodic
1. External painting five-yearly
2. Interior painting/redecoration five-yearly
3. Maintenance inspection five-yearly
4. Fire alarm replacement ten-yearly
5. Security alarm replacement ten-yearly
6. White goods replacement ten-yearly
7. Floor covering replacement ten-yearly
8. Rewiring 25-yearly
Occasional
1. Re-pointing
2. Re roofing
3. Re-seating windows
4. Repairs to wear and tear
5. Excess on repairs to insured damage

Ongoing Costs - Garden

Annual
1. Grass-cutting (12 times)
2. Pruning
3. Planting
4. Annual plants
5. Weeding
Occasional
1. Paths & Drives

Ongoing Costs - Staff

Annual
1. Salary
2. National Insurance (Employer's contribution)
3. Pension (Employer's contribution)
4. Holiday cover
5. Training costs
Occasional
1. Recruitment costs
2. Maternity pay & cover
3. Sick pay & cover
4. Training costs

Sources of Funding

Visitors

Fees and/or donations

Sales

Visitors
Mail order

Donations

Individual
Corporate
Trust

Grants

Local Authority
English Heritage (EH)
Local charities,
English Tourist Board (ETB)
European Union (EU) Section 4, Leonardo, Raphael, etc.
Area Museum Service (AMS)
Museums and Galleries Commission (MGC)
National Art Collection Fund (NACF)
Central Government initiatives
Training and Enterprise Council (TEC)
British Library
MGC/V&A Purchase Fund
National Lottery

Planning Gain

(Funding by the developer as a condition of being awarded planning permission for another project)

Sponsorship

Milestones

Identify building/partners
Secure funding
Acquire premises or land
Finalise plans for physical works
Commence physical works
Complete physical works
Install collections/exhibitions
Open to visitors
Post-project review
Implementation of findings of post-project review