Breakfast in Scarborough

The penultimate Toronto Public Library I called on was one of its smallest: Swansea Memorial. This compact and attractive branch occupies one room on the upper floor of Swansea’s City Hall, where it has resided for fifty-one years. (Previously, it was located in Swansea Public School from 1919 to 1959). With only 1,127 square feet of floor space, what Swansea Memorial lacked in elbow room was made up for in historical flavour. Even its big wooden table had a history. A carpenter named S. Haslam built it in 1926.

I liked the pioneering feel to this venerable library; it evoked the one-room schoolhouses I read about in Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. (By the way, L. M. Montgomery actually lived in the village of Swansea from 1935 until her death in 1942, as Mary Henley Rubio details in Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings (446)).

In contrast to the solid, sober table was the tie-dyed kite on the ceiling. This piece of hippy whimsy might have been an attempt to soften the military associations of the library’s name. From a leaflet about Swansea Memorial Library’s history, I learned that credit for its inception belongs to the Women’s Patriotic League of Swansea, who wanted to honour the freshly-returned veterans of the First World War as well as the soldiers who had not survived.

My last act of homage was to study the folksy mural on the outer wall of the library. I loved the lively colours and the way the art piece transformed the interior of an official municipal building into a friendly community space. What an appropriate spot to contemplate my next-to-last TPL branch!

To enter Jane/Dundas Library from the parking lot is to encounter the branch as a visual whole — silver, light, and open. Look down and you can see groups of teens in their study nook below. Look to the right and the entire main level comes into view. Although Jane/Dundas isn’t a huge branch, such is the innovative use of space that it feels bigger than its 11,648 square feet.

A long carpeted ramp leads to the basement level, giving a sense of expansiveness. Further unfolding the feeling of openness is the generous amount of free space overhead as well as the enormous west-facing window.

The library’s spatial openness is matched by linguistic breadth, as evidenced by a large ESL section and materials in French, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The narrow aisles of the main level also yield substantial fiction and non-fiction collections.

The downstairs level is equally engaging. It has a quiet study room filled with lovely Saturday self-improvement energy, a beautiful tree in the teen enclave, and a playful set of shelves in the children’s area. These wooden shelves contain an open square which allows young library-users to peer into a storybook-reading zone.

With so many angles, corners, and views, Jane/Dundas is a delightful place to raise your head from a book before burrowing back into study. I’m grateful I got to spend a Saturday afternoon immersed in such an imaginative space!

Finding a parking space on Bloor Street West near Royal York Road was challenging, but my luck changed for the better when I walked into Brentwood Library. By coincidence, that particular Saturday in December just happened to be Christmas Open House day! With an angel-topped tree, carols playing in the background, and cinnamon smells announcing the presence of hot apple cider, Brentwood created a truly festive welcome for its patrons. Transcending a tired attempt to go through the holiday motions, the Open House struck me as genuinely hospitable, especially when one of the librarians stationed herself behind the cookie table to serve the cider personally. Complementing the classic Christmas scene was the 1950′s atmosphere of the branch, which the clock above the hearth exemplified.

Lest this solid 1955 building seem too stodgy, its sunny attic provided a welcome touch of lightness. A very calming, open space, it was the perfect home for the children’s collection. I spent several minutes just enjoying the attic before I walked back downstairs and then down one flight more. As I approached the basement level, several murals painted on the stairway walls caught my eye. The bright colours provided a visual transition into the cozy room which housed the teen section as well as the Polish and French offerings. Selecting a French film and a quilt book, I returned to the cinnamon cheer of the main level for check-out.