Happily, Humber Bay expanded my number of Toronto Public Library visits to sixty-nine. A compact square building, this branch had dark wooden siding on part of the exterior, creating a cabin-like effect. The wood motif was repeated inside the library, most prominently in the sturdy check-out station. There, several librarians were performing their duties in what seemed like a massive oaken puppet theatre, with dark beams over their heads, below their hands, and composing the broad columns that framed the desk. Despite the prevalence of heavy wood and the building’s low ceiling, Humber Bay was by no means claustrophobic, thanks to two walls composed almost entirely of glass.
A small but well-furnished branch, Humber Bay Library offered its patrons books in Russian and Polish in addition to the standard materials. In the children’s section was an Easter book display that included The Easter Bunny that Overslept. And not far from the rabbit with punctuality issues was another display, this one featuring the local winners of a bookmark design contest. I liked the one which had a Christmas tree reading a book about Christmas at the top of the bookmark. Below the tree floated a blue ghost learning about Halloween. Next down was a turkey studying a Thanksgiving text, followed by a heart, a bookish birthday present, an egg, and a literate shamrock. They all looked happy, even the turkey.
Only a handful of readers were at Humber Bay branch on the day of my visit. As I sat at an empty table near the streetside window, I searched for words to sum up the library’s ambiance: simple, manageable, light-filled, wholesome, enclosed, reserved, and classic.