From the outside, Rexdale Library had a pleasing squatness that gave it the air of small-town post-office. Confirming this impression, a historical outline posted inside described the evolution of the library and its formerly rural surroundings. I was especially fascinated by a newspaper clipping which showed how Kipling Heights looked in 1955.
Though not as empty as the field in the photograph, Rexdale wasn’t very crowded on the afternoon of my visit. Near the west wall, a couple of elderly men fondly reminisced about TTC fares that only cost six cents in the post-war era. A few shelves away from their table were books in languages which probably weren’t heard very often in Kipling Heights fifty years ago: Gujarati, Punjabi, and Spanish (with the exception of Italian, which was more common).
Having come into the building from the back entrance, I decided to investigate the front vestibule facing Kipling Avenue, which was like a sunny wooden box. Further along the north wall was a bay window with a lovely C-shaped window seat. Brightening the window were pictures of Winnie the Pooh, The Simpsons, and Dora the Explorer (among others). Opposite the windows, a wooden sliding screen completed the circle started by the window seat. Its flexibility made it possible to enclose the area into its own separate space. Emphasizing the room’s singularity, a circular depression in the middle suggested a woodland pond. Two carpeted steps led to the sacred pool, providing the perfect amount of transition time from land to water. With late afternoon sunlight flooding the window-seat theatre, this otherwise ordinary branch was transformed into a cartoon-friendly hermitage.
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