On a visit to Hillcrest branch near Leslie Street and Steeles last month, I was impressed by how enthusiastically it celebrated Easter. The lobby showcased a holiday display on three shelves behind a glass screen. Nests blessed with eggs rested near stuffed toy rabbits which were kitted out with straw hats and carrot accessories. One bunny projected pastel cool with his pink spectacles and a purple felt hat that had holes for his ears to flop through. Perhaps the result of chomping on too many fake carrots, one of his teeth was hanging out quite far from his mouth. Nearby, some more rabbits were performing the splits, wielding a wheelbarrow, and gardening with a shovel. Framing the dynamic mammals, two large Easter baskets were overflowing with chicks, eggs, grass, lilies, and yet more bunnies. Plastic grass carpeted the flat spaces between Easter objects, including a tree stand adorned with painted wooden eggs, a fuzzy purple chick and one white goose.
Moving into the library proper, I surveyed the large square room of this pleasant neighbourhood branch. Hillcrest’s size, layout, and atmosphere was very similar to Pleasant View, Elmbrook Park, and Goldhawk Park branches. In addition to a comprehensive selection of fiction and non-fiction, Hillcrest Library had a solid ESL section, from which I selected an abridged reader about The Beatles for my class. It also had a sizable French and Chinese collection. In the northeast corner of the room, a window bench invited sun-loving readers to lounge for a spell by the broad windows. And one last distinctive detail was a funky satellite mobile which dangled from the ceiling near the checkout desk. The satellite was shaped like a jack (as in the jacks you pick up between bounces of a ball), and its many limbs came in purple, green, yellow, blue, and pink. Purple balls jutted from the ends of each jack-limb. Gaping at this psychedelic satellite was an excellent distraction from waiting in line, and in a cosmic second I was (temporarily) a book and DVD richer.
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