Tall pylons and chimney stacks near Bathurst and Finch provided the backdrop to Centennial Library, which stood in front of a recreational facility called Herbert H. Carnegie Centennial Centre. Beside the library’s entrance was a quirky sculpture by Ron Baird which Stewart described as an “oyster on legs.” After appreciating the sculpture’s oysteriness for a few moments, we entered a large square room with a central dividing wall that didn’t completely bisect the room’s entire width.
Windows comprised the majority of the library’s southern, street-facing wall, and plenty of reading chairs and tables invited patrons to take advantage of this open and well-illuminated space. On the Saturday that we visited Centennial, every possible reading perch was occupied by readers concentrating on their thoughts, dreams, and lessons. These studious people sparkled like jewels in a treasure chest of books, and the library walls in pastel violet created the ideal foil for them to shine. To encourage the polishing of brilliance were books in French, Hebrew, Russian, Tagalog, and English-learning texts. For those in search of lighter reading, the Romance section had “Desert Ice Daddy” and “The Cowboy Wants a Baby.” And for newcomers looking for social connections, a notice board provided details about North York Community House’s Host Program.
The Children’s Area was on the west side of the central dividing wall and boasted a colourful spring scene made from paper. A long tree branch stretched across part of the west wall and presented its cherry blossoms to the viewer. A paper plate drenched in yellow paint successfully represented the sun, while the branch arched over some tulips, a deer, and a large mushroom with a yellow bird sheltering under its eave.
I really enjoyed Centennial’s unpretentious cheeriness; it struck me as a down-to-earth branch that has not been taken for granted by its local patrons. Tucking newly borrowed books and CD’s in bags, we returned to our Honda parked in the shadow of an enormous Hydro pylon. And that was the end of library visit number seventy-three!
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