Community library visit in Toronto

What's a trip to Toronto without a stop at some TPL branches? A waste, I say!

The husband and I checked out two this time; the first was a small renovated library in Thorncliffe Park. Thorncliffe Branch has been around since the 60s, and the current building dates from 1970. A renovation begun in December 2007 was finally completed in April this year and involved doubling the size and adding a KidsStop, Teen Zone, meeting rooms and an adult reading area.

As you can see from the photo at left, the neighbourhood is very densely populated and features many high-rises. I counted at least 8 within sight of the library. According to city info, 68% of occupied private dwellings in the ward are in high-rise apartments. The area is predominantly South Asian (I was the only white girl on the street, for sure); 11% of the ward speaks Urdu as their mother tongue. Interestingly, the population is also quite mixed (30% indicated "multiple response" for ethnic origin) and highly educated (the ward is 7% higher than city average for residents with a university certificate, diploma or degree).

Given that Thorncliffe's reno was only very, very recently completed, I will forgive them their unpaved (and extremely narrow!) parking lot; I would imagine, like Rideau, that many of their patrons walk to the branch. At right is a photo of the exterior of branch; when we pulled up, a police cruiser was pulled up outside, and the police were chatting good-naturedly with a large group of local kids and teens. The building is shared space with a community centre, and you enter the lobby and ascend a flight of stairs on the right to enter the library. Alas, we didn't have time to explore the whole centre, but I gather it includes a gym and fitness room, a teen lounge, and a daycare (although the whole reno wasn't entirely without its issues).

Inside the library, it's slatwall city. I continue to love how TPL places many of its stacks on an angle, although it is hard to do because it eats up so much more space. I like how they slatwalled the entire wall at the entry way, too; why waste the space? Tucked in behind the second doorway in the photo at left is a small space for hold pickup and a photocopier/printer. Strangely, Rideau has similar light fixtures! Overall, I really like how the entryway draws you in: the slatwall is enticing and the lights create a kind of pathway feeling.

The branch also made the most of storefront windows by creating a lovely reading corner (at right). This looks out onto the street (you can even see the front hood of the police cruiser I was talking about at far left!). First words out of the husband's mouth: now why didn't you guys get chairs like that? He's right too: the leather (or fake leather - whatever) is probably more hygenic. I wonder if these chairs came with tablet desks, too, though... 'cause we really needed those tablet desks. The husband was not a fan of the carpet though; I like it. Anyway, note use of slatwall again, and those lovely cube display units (each is a separate piece). I adore them.

The teen zone is just off the main entryway, and has a bunch of computers (see photo at left), a TV screen (on mute), cushy seating, and teen collections. The hanging kits you see on the right of the picture are part of the languages collection - I can't remember specifics now, but they definitely had books in Urdu and Gujarati, and some Hindi movies (ha! All those years I hung out with Seetha, and I managed to escape watching an entire Hindi movie beginning to end. Which is not to say I am not familiar with the tropes of the genre, or the actors and actresses...! Perhaps more from the Ms of SAM², though!) Where was I? Oh yeah, teens. Well, that was it. I'm happy to see a smaller branch manage to have a teen zone. Damn. I wish we could carve out the space.

Et bien - la pièce de résistance... The KidsStop! Talk about maximising the space. I will let the below photo speak for itself (note pre-literacy skill activities tucked into the letters). Genius.



On a side note, we also serendipitously visited North York Central Library (thanks to location assistance from a friend via text!), because it is my friend Lora's home branch and it wasn't toooo far from the location of Seetha's wedding (incidentally, check that second link out. The temple also houses the Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization). North York started life as the first stand-alone facility for the North York Public Library in 1959 and it still has a ton of resources and programs, including a legal aid clinic and a teen book club - in French! Puts us to shame! Architectural highlights of the branch include: swirly stacks (puts me in mind of the swirly stacks at the Idea Store in London!), a secret fort in the kids' dept. with aquariums (dudes! It took me forever to spell aquariums properly. My fingers wanted to auto-complete it as "acquisitions" - sad!) and some good lookin' owls (which Laura - I know, another one, confusing, eh? - says might have at some point been a TPL symbol?)

P.S. I still haven't read the literature that I picked up on these two TPL stops - more updates on that if there is anything remarkable!

P.P.S. I also forgot to mention, when talking about Seetha, that she and her brother (both doctors) diagnosed my osteoporosis themselves (or at least, suggested I get a bone density test) after my second broken wrist. Told ya she was a superstar!

I leave you with the owl. I like him.

Library wanderings in Toronto

(now with more bookstores!)

Another RA meeting, another chance to explore TPL renos. This past weekend, we visited the Bloor/Gladstone Branch of TPL, which re-opened in July of last year after closing in 2006 for a renovation and expansion. This branch, one of TPL's oldest (opened in 1913 as Dovercourt, a much better name in my opinion...!), nearly doubled in size with the addition of a large modern glass block on the west side. Also, to improve accessibility, the inner and outer staircases were removed and patrons now enter on the lowest level of the library.

I quite liked the marriage of old and new; I am a total sucker for those old buildings that keep the formerly outer wall intact (see also: TPL's Yorkville Branch). I think they did a magnificent job in the lobby, and the 2nd floor landing, where you can stand and look down into the renovated lobby, is a highlight (a 7 yr old was soaking up the view while we visited). I also quite liked the placement of holds (in an alcove with community and library info - photo here). I liked that the former was stored in a binder - this is something I am doing at St Laurent: the valuable poster space on the wall is for library programs first and foremost! The only thing I didn't like about where the holds were was that you didn't have to pass any collections (well, some display cubes, but that's all) on the way; in my mind, that's like grocery stores putting the milk at the entrance: why waste an opportunity to make people walk through your location?

The branch also featured a listening station in the teen section, which was cool. Um, about the teen section. Have a look at this photo I took. I think some good ideas backfired a bit: the addition of the TV has turned the area into a .... loitering spot for non-teens, let's just say. I caught a strong whiff of alcohol while I was setting up the photo. Which is a pity. Don't get me wrong - I am glad that people are in the library, and happy to welcome anyone, no questions asked, but I think that an area specifically designed for teens should be safe for teens. I recently read on the YALSA blog that NYPL Teen Central spaces are reserved for teen use only; if staff see an adult sitting there, he/she will be asked to move. Pretty hard-core, but then, not entirely a bad idea. I would prefer signage or something, rather than having to police the area (but then I say that because my teen zone is behind me, with a glass wall in between us).

The branch also featured a great use of LCD projector: projecting historical photos as well as current information above the Newcomer information desk (photo here). The architectural firm involved in the reno also has some lovely photos of the renovation here.

The other library I visited was the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto. I've been to Robarts many a time, mostly for the U of T FIS job fairs, but never quite made it to the other tower.

Recently, I discovered that a good friend of mine worked researched there as a student, and I was inspired to really make the effort to visit (despite the - ahem - restrictive opening hours, which I completely understand, but are nonetheless annoying if you're me).

We didn't roam through the collection, which is vast and impressive. We instead took in the current exhibit, which was "Caterpillars and Cathedrals: The etchings of Wenceslaus Hollar," which was lovely in its minutiae. What was also lovely to behold was that a library could so deftly overcome its Brutalist shell to be quite beautiful in the end.

Sidebar: TFRBL has Gwendolyn MacEwen's papers, and I am a big fan of novelist and poet MacEwen, once a rival to Atwood, now largely unknown outside CanLit circles. MacEwen is perhaps best known for her poem, "Dark pines under water", from 1972's The Shadow Maker, which was voted by LRC as one of Canada's most memorable poems:

This land like a mirror turns you inward
And you become a forest in a furtive lake;
The dark pines of your mind reach downward,
You dream in the green of your time,
Your memory is a row of sinking pines.

Explorer, you tell yourself this is not what you came for
Although it is good here, and green;
You had meant to move with a kind of largeness,
You had planned a heavy grace, an anguished dream.

But the dark pines of your mind dip deeper
And you are sinking, sinking, sleeper
In an elementary world;
There is something down there and you want it told.

So, I was more than thrilled to see the bust of MacEwen at TFRBL, and to have a short conversation about her with the library staff member who greeted us.

While on campus, we also visited the Hart House Library (best. ceiling. ever.), which reminded me distinctly of the Birks Reading Room (it could simply have been because of the creaky floors), spent far, far too long in the U of T bookstore, and came serendipitously upon a Toronto Legacy Project plaque for Robertson Davies (since you probably can't read that, it says "The novelist Robertson Davies, 1913-1995) lived here from 1963-1981 as the first master of Massey College").

London Library Change Program, Phase 3 Bulletin

Read it here! (warning: PDF)

London libraries are looking at centralised request services in back offices, an unified approach to "stock management and procurement" (the word, stock, sticks in my craw!), and a single system for renewals and requests, in (possibly) 15 out of 33 boroughs.

They cite TPL as an example of a large, centralised library system. I could be wounded that they didn't mention us, but that's OK. We're only the largest bilingual English-French library system in North America.... Maybe they're still mad at me for making fun of Oxford's circ desk.

Weekend scribbles

Did I mention I took a (hard-earned) break last week? In case I didn't let me just say it was the *best idea I have ever had.* First of all, I always come back from conferences exhausted. As I was discussing with Lina, there is something about those buildings conferences are in (and it's not just conference centres; no building is immune. Even when we had the ABQLA conference at the University Club, it was lovely but still left me drained) that sucks the brain right out of you by the end of the event. Maybe it's the ventilation; maybe it's the general lack of natural light (OK, so the Palais was a notable exception, and MTCC isn't bad); maybe it's the lack of decent food and coffee within a 5K radius. I could go on.

In any case, I always come home drained. Then, of course, like many of you, I'm sure, I slink back into work, lugging endless pages of notes, photos, books, pamphlets, brochures, and sometimes stuffed monkeys, to face a duel with the literal and metaphorical inbox (or in tray. *The best times* are when you have both, as I do). Endless stacks of books and notes from staff, as well as a groaning inbox: you have exceeded your mailbox limit.... The world stops for no one, least of all unimportant little me (I don't mean to suggest that all this stacked up work inflates my sense of self-importance, because, trust me, it stopped doing that when I was a new grad. Now it just makes me want to weep softly and run).

This time, brilliant young woman that I am, I looked at my schedule ahead of time (this in itself is, sadly, revolutionary. All too often when people ask me what I'm doing next week/month, I reply, "Not there yet!" As though not turning the pages in my agenda will make it go away). I said to myself, now, look here. You've been spending much of May just simply trying to breathe. You will be done in from CLA (volunteering, pub crawling, presenting, socialising!) and then you have that OPLA RA Committee meeting in Toronto the following Friday. Take three measly days off.

So I did. I blogged my notes from the conference, which should make that conference report for work easier, I rested, I made notes for the OPLA meeting (but on the balcony, while eating and drinking and sunning myself), I went for nice walks, and I just relaxed. The end.

Now, on to what happened in Toronto. Fun stuff, like hanging out at the Library Bar with The Husband, the OPLA RA meeting (those lovely ladies - and one gentleman - remind me why I am in this profession, re-charge my energy, and send me away with numerous book recommendations - this time, the latter included many suggestions for my homeschoolers' book club, The Believers by Zoe Heller, and The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, as well as a tip to check this out, and also to visit S. Walter Stewart Branch... see below!). More fun stuff: snippets of shopping (shopping makes me very cranky in general, but some opportunities are not to be missed), and, of course, if it's Alex in Toronto, it must be TPL time! How long do you think it will take me to visit all 99 branches?


We came across the Davenport Branch serendipitously (interior at right), on our way to something else. N.B.: This is the total length of the branch! One service point, needless to say! Behind me as I was taking this picture are shelves with holds (reserved items), a small children's reading area, and bathrooms. At the front is the magazine/study area, looking out on the street. Quite an interesting little sliver of a branch. Excellent use of space, but can you imagine being the one staff member? I assume they have a person on who can answer basic reference, but it's likely a lot of circ. And lonely. Sniff. When I got back to the car, The Husband was like, done already?


Next up is Wychwood Branch (adult area pictured at left). I have had this branch on my list (yes, there is a list. The geekiness knows no bounds) for almost a year. It's my friend Laura's home branch from her childhood and youth, and a Carnegie, to boot. I had previously visited one of the other triplets, Beaches Branch. I took the picture at left of Wychwood from the tiny study space on the third floor, which is more like a loft, really. To the extreme right of this picture, and one floor down from where I am, is a second-floor extension, seamlessly melded into the branch, with the old exterior windows framed on the connecting wall, and where my friend Laura always looked for a place at a window to sit as a child! Altogether charming. Great roof.


Last but not least, S. Walter Stewart Branch (interior at right): Sigh. Oh, the lead to this story is going to be forever linked in my head to this branch, which is unfortunate, as the branch is lovely. I got a kick out of the navigational signs around the perimeter of the ceiling. The branch has a very open and airy feeling, with the stacks out like spokes from the central hub. Full disclosure: some nutbar cut us off in her giant SUV while we were driving to S. Walter Stewart, gave us the finger, AND racially slurred us, so I was not in a sunny mood when we arrived. Hence only one interior photo. I was like, library, great, fan-freaking-tastic, pretty, get me outta here. I didn't even notice the KidsStop, which made me utterly disconsolate when I got home. Next time! There will have to be an S. Walter, part 2 entry.

Now, like it or not, I am tackling that inbox. I hereby resolve to kick its butt.

TPL-filled weekend!

Yup, I had a TPL-filled weekend. I usually try to visit a few branches of the Toronto Public Library when I'm in town (gotta make a dent in 99, you know!), and this time, it was well worth the schlepping around town. Here's a summary, with links to TPL info and my Flickr pics along the way.

I first made my way to the Annette Branch (a Carnegie library), based solely on the fact that someone who attended my recent OLA talk worked there. Annette Branch is a lovely, traditional Carnegie branch, opened in 1909, and it bears many similarities to my library... or, it, ahem, will, once mine gets its major facelift. Annette Branch boasts lovely dental moulding on the ceiling, an intriguing Edison phonograph, and a cozy periodicals area. Not to mention, I got a personalised tour, as it turned out my friend from OLA was working (ah, public libraries... always making us work Saturdays...).

Based on this friend's recommendation, I next made my way to the Dufferin/St. Clair Branch, which has several unique features. First off, it has breath-taking murals by G. A. Reid and Doris McCarthy, painted between 1925 and 1932 and recently restored (they had been painted over in 1964, which is criminal!) Hats off also to Makrimichalos Cugini Architects for a lovely renovation, including two little wings off either side of the branch, acting as glassed-in reading rooms. I love it when we smaller branches make the absolute most of the limited space we have! That's thinking, kids! (Sorry, no wings pics since I didn't want to risk my life in the middle of the street). The gorgeous dark wood stacks inside the Adults area, moreover, are perfectly in keeping with the elegance of the branch (made the husband very happy, too - he's a tough critic when it comes to wood finishes, and, let's admit it, libraries usually cheap out on this and it's very visible...), and the muted colour scheme lets the murals shine through.

Now, the pièce de résistance: the KidsStop. I just about died with sheer excitement at the sight of it. I had heard that TPL was building these interactive early literacy spaces to re-inforce pre-literacy skills taught in library programming (TPL uses Ready for Reading; we at OPL use ALA's Every Child Ready to Read). Nothing prepares you for seeing the space, though. It was, by far, the absolute best library experience that my husband (not a librarian!) and I have ever had. We both walked out of it in awe. I'll start from the beginning.

So, you're in the Children's Department (terribly dark photo here). Pretty kickass on its own, I might say, with mirrors on the edge of each row and lovely natural light pouring in. If you're me, you immediately spot the dragon from The Paper Bag Princess on the wall, and exclaim about it. A random mum nearby overheard me (apparently I left my "library voice" at home that day) and says, "Wait until you go inside." Me: "Inside where?" "Over there," she replies, pointing underneath the dragon where wooden beams are cut to look like tree branches forming an archway.

Under the archway you go, looking up to see a ceiling of stars. You come out (pleased as punch, if you're me!) in a small, separate room, filled with picture books and various toys and games. Everything is in the same polished wood, painted in places, naturally stained in others. Another Martchenko dragon fills the centre of the room, carrying books on his back. One wall is mostly taken up by the castle for play-acting, bookended by pit stops for narrative skills and print awareness. Other stops for letter knowledge and print motivation caught my eye (who could not be motivated on a throne?), as did the colourful home for the Dial-a-story phone. Just past the dragon's backside (sorry, but it's true) were more pre-literacy games at baby's eye level (one of my favourites was the spin-a-story thingamajig) and a toy book return bin (every budding librarian's dream!).

I think TPL did a fabulous job with this branch. I can't say enough about it.

After all that, I must say my first visit (I know - that's just sad) to the Toronto Reference Library was anticlimactic. It is quite something, what with the collections in many languages and all that (Finnish included!) and the various special collections (we peered into the Arthur Conan Doyle Collection room). I did have the palpable feeling that I was in an important space, and I reminded myself of authors and intellectuals who have hung out here, doing research, even if the fraying carpeting on the staircase walls (who carpets walls?) was doing its best to kill my mood. I must end on a positive note, though, to assuage my own conscience if nothing else: I really like the Foundation's recent poster campaign. You can read the stories featured on the posters here.

That was enough for one day. We retired to a pub for dinner.

Just in case you think I'm a total geek who goes to different cities exclusively to check out libraries (I suppose that's not far off, though...), I was there for a work-related purpose. And I did do other stuff, I swear!

Meanwhile, I came home exhausted and managed to somehow make myself ill again. Charming.

It was worth it for that dragon, though.